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JOHNS HOPKINS ONIVERSITY STODIES 

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Historical and Political Science 

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History Is past Politics and Politics present History.— Freeman 



TENTH SERIES 
I 



THE BISHOP HILL COLONY 

A KELiaiOUS COMMUNISTIC SETTLEMENT IN HENRY 
COUNTY, ILLINOIS 



By MICHAEL A. MIKKELSEN, A.M. 

Fellow in History, Johns Hopkins University 



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January, 1893 

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THE BISHOP HILL COLOiNY 



L RELIGIOUS COMMUNISTIC SETTLEMENT IN HENRT 
COUNTY, ILLINOIS 



JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDIES 



IN 



Historical and Political Science 

HERBERT B. ADAMS, Editor 



History Is past Politics and Politics present History. — Freeman 



TENTH SERIES 



THE BISHOP HILL COLONY 

A RELIGIOUS communistic SETTLEMENT IN HENRY 
COUNTY, ILLINOIS 



MIKK] 



By MICHAEL A. MIKKELSEN, A. M. 

Fellmc in Hintory, JoKns JloiJkins University 



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DEC 26 L, , , 



baltimore 
The Johns Hopkins Press 

PUBLISHED MONTHLY 

January, 1893 



COPYBIGHT, 1891, BY THE JOHNS HOPKINS PRESS. 



ISAAC FEIEDENWALD CO., PKINTERS, 
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PREFACE. 

The author does not find it necessary to make any apology 
for the appearance of this little contribution to the history of 
the Scandinavian settlements in the Northwest. The Bishop 
Hill Colony will always occupy a prominent place in any 
history of the State of Illinois. It was founded when 
Chicago was but an overgrown village, and when there was 
not a single city worthy of the name in the State. It brought 
1100 able-bodied immigrants into the county of Henry when 
the entire population of the county was only four times that 
number. It put large quantities of ready money into circu- 
lation at a time when business was largely conducted by 
barter and when the principal medium of exchange was the 
skins of fur-bearing animals. It inaugurated that mighty 
tide of Swedish immigration which has flooded the State of 
Illinois and the entire Northwest with prosperous Swedish 
homesteads and flourishing villages. The Bishop Hill Colony 
built mills, erected manufactories, and put thousands of acres 
of virgin soil under cultivation. It engaged in banking, and 
its history connects itself with that of early railroading in 
the State. In the days of its greatest prosperity it was the 
principal commercial and industrial center in all the distance 
between the cities of Peoria and Rock Island. Yet, in spite 
of its importance for the early industries of the State, the 
Bishop Hill Colony was primarily a religious society. The 
history of the Jansonists before their emigration belongs to 
the ecclesiastical history of Sweden. What they sought in 
the New World was not wealth, but freedom to worship God 
after their own manner. They held views that were repug- 
nant to the Church of Sweden. It was the realization of 
these views which they sought in the New World. Of the 



6 Preface. [6 

character of these views, as well as of the result of the ex- 
periment, the reader of this historical sketch will be able to 
judge for himself. 

The Bishop Hill Colony was incidentally an experiment in 
practical communism. Perhaps also this side of its history 
may not be void of interest or profit in our day, when social 
improvement is sought largely along similar lines. It is now, 
indeed, thirty years since the society was dissolved, and cir- 
cumstances have been modified by the advance of civilization 
and the progress of the industrial revolution. But human 
nature is substantially the same to-day as in the day of our 
fathers and grandfathers, and many of the difficulties which 
the Jansonists encountered must be met again in any attempt 
to apply the theories of modern socialism to practical life. 

The author has attempted to give an impartial presentation 
of the important facts in the history of Jansonism. These 
facts have not been easy of access. No complete history of 
the Jansonists has been written, and a large part of their 
documents has been either accidentally or purposely destroyed. 
Hence, much of the information contained in this volume has 
needs been gathered from the lips of surviving members of 
the Bishop Hill Colony. In many instances the reports were 
of a conflicting nature, for the Jansonists are now split up 
into several religious parties, and each has its separate views 
to uphold. But care has been taken not to accept any state- 
ment unless supported by proper collateral evidence. 

Another serious obstacle encountered was the unwilling- 
ness of the Jansonists to reveal any of the "absurdities" of 
their religion. The author stayed several weeks among them 
before he was able to discover the real historic meaning of 
Jansonism ; and Charles NordhofF, who devotes a few pages to 
them in his Communistic Societies of the United States, is 

reported to have said, on leaving Bishop Hill, "D these 

people ; I can't get anything out of them." The fact of it is 
that the Jansonists have outgrown their creed, and many of 
them are now ashamed of the .views for which they were once 



7] Preface. 7 

willing to sacrifice their all. Furthermore, they have been 
so frequently maligned and reviled that they can hardly 
be blamed for having grown suspicious of the motives of 
strangers. 

In view of this, the author's thanks are due in a special 
sense to Mr. Jonas Olson, now in his eighty-eighth year, but 
remarkably well preserved, for the liberality with which he 
drew upon his memory for the facts connected with the inner 
history of the Jansonists. Jonas Olson stood near to the 
person of the founder of Jansonism, and, after the great 
leader's death, succeeded to his authority. It is not too much 
to say, therefore, that without Mr. Olson's invaluable assist- 
ance this monograph could not have been written. Recogni- 
tion is due also to Mrs. S. J. Anderson, Messrs. John P. 
Chaiser, J. W. Olson, and others for valuable assistance. 
The author further acknowledges his indebtedness to Messrs. 
John Helsen and Andreas Berglund for the use of manu- 
scripts and original documents relating to the history of the 
Jansonists. Mr. Berglund's collection of original documents 
contained a part of the correspondence and the incompleted 
autobiography of Eric Janson. Mr. Helsen's manuscript 
notes were especially valuable. Their author is not a literary 
man and his collection was not intended for publication. 
But for many years past, in the leisure of his retirement from 
active life, Mr. Helsen has been perfecting his notes for the 
use of " some future historian." 

Through the kindness of an anonymous friend the author 
has also had access to a certified copy of the complete trans- 
actions of the Bishop Hill Colony, the original records being 
no longer in existence. Mention is made elsewhere of the 
printed books and documents which have any bearing on the 
history of the Jansonists. 

It might appear strange that, in spite of its scientific and 
general interest, no adequate attempt has been made to pre- 
sent a complete history of Jansonism. But it must be re- 
membered that the Jansonists were illiterate people, who. 



8 Preface. [8 

even if they had desired to publish a history of themselves, 
were unequal to the task of writing one. Furthermore, the 
War of the Rebellion, which broke out at the time of the 
dissolution of the society, and other important events which 
followed in its wake, engrossed public attention to the exclu- 
sion of all other matters of less general importance. Still, 
the memory of the Bishop Hill Colony cannot die, for it is 
part of the pioneer history of a great and flourishing State, 
and is cherished in the hearts of the descendants of the Jan- 
sonists, who are to be found scattered throughout the, length 
and the breadth of the United States. 



CONTENTS, 



PAGE 

Pkeface 5 

I. Devotionalism in Helsingland from 1825 to 1842 11 

II. The Eise of Jansonism 16 

III. Emigration of the Jansonists and the Founding of 

Bishop Hill 24 

IV. The Adventurer John Root and the Murder of Eric 

Janson 38 

V. Jonas Olson and the Incorporation of the Bishop Hill 

Colony 45 

VI. Social, Economic, AND Religious Life UNDER the Charter 52 

VII. Disastrous Financial Speculations, Internal Dissen- 
sions, AND Dissolution of the Society 58 

VIII. Conclusion 69 

Appendix 73 



THE BISHOP HILL COLONY. 



I. — Devotionalism in Helsingland from 1825 to 1842. 

The history of devotionalism in Helsingland from 1825 to 
1842 revolves around the person of one man. Jonas Olson 
was born December 18, 1802, in Soderala Parish, in the 
province of Helsingland. The environments of his boyhood 
were not of a character to encourage the development of a 
religious disposition. His father, Olof Olson, a coarse and 
illiterate peasant, was an habitual drunkard, who when in 
his cups was in the habit of brutally maltreating wife and 
children. IS'or was his mother a Monica to lead him to 
Christ, although she loved her son after a fashion, and 
encouraged him in his endeavors to obtain an education. 
For Jonas was a bright lad, and was not satisfied with 
knowing how to read the hymn-book and the catechism, but 
aspired to learning how to write and cipher, uncommon 
accomplishments among the peasantry at that time. It was 
in these unlawful aspirations that his mother encouraged her 
son, by procuring the necessary writing materials, which as 
soon as they were discovered by the angry father were ruth- 
lessly destroyed, with the remark that such things were not 
intended for peasants' sons. At the age of fifteen, when he 
had been confirmed in the faith of the Established Lutheran 
Church, Jonas was compelled to shift for himself. For five 
years he served an uncle on the father's side as a farm-laborer. 
It was here, among the peasant-fishermen on the banks of the 
river Ljusne, near the Gulf of Bothnia, that he learned the 
art of preparing salmon for the market in Stockholm. For 



12 The Bishop Hill Colony. [12 

two years he served an elder sister, and then, at the age of 
twenty-two, returned home to take charge of his father's 
estate, for the eldest son — there were three sons and two 
daughters — had, like his father, become incapacitated for 
work by strong drink. He found everything in a deplorable 
condition, but with the vigor of youth he set to work to 
repair the buildings and reclaim the waste land. In the 
summer-time, while employing common laborers to attend to 
the work in the fields, he himself bought large quantities of 
salmon, which he cured and disposed of to good advantage 
on the market in Stockholm ; so that ere many years had 
passed it was rumored that Jonas Olson was one of the most 
prosperous men in the parish. The year 1825 was the epoch- 
making period of his life. If there was any one vice which 
the peasantry was addicted to more than another it was the 
vice of intemperance. But hand-in-hand with intemperance 
went general laxity of morals. The clergy was no better 
than the peasantry. The Kev. Mr. Sherdin never waived his 
privilege of dancing the first round with the bride at weddings, 
and drank as deep as any of his parishioners. The tithes of 
grain which the good pastor received he sold again to his^ 
flock in the form of distilled liquor. Moreover, it was known 
that at least one unfortunate girl had ONvned the associate 
pastor to be the father of her child. It was at a dance in the 
winter of 1825 that liquor was passed around in sacrilegious 
mockery of the Lord's Supper. The incident made a deep 
impression on Jonas Olson's mind. He became converted, 
and forthwith resolved to lead a new life. He renounced all 
worldly amusements and gave himself up to the quiet intro- 
spective life of a follower of Christ. He studied the Word of 
God assiduously, and read the devotional literature of the 
Lutheran Church, especially the works of Luther, Arndt, and 
Nohrborg. On his frequent visits to Stockholm he bought 
books and visited the public libraries, so that, for a peasant, 
he became an unusually well-read man. It was in Stock- 
holm that he made the acquaintance of C. O. Rosenius, the 



13] Devotionalism in Hehingland from 1825 to 1842. 13 

celebrated Swedish representative of Hallean pietism, and 
became a constant reader of the church paper edited by him. 
It was here, too, that he met George Scott, an English 
Methodist clergyman, who was established in the Swedish 
capital as chaplain to Samuel Owen, a wealthy English 
manufacturer. Scott M^as a man of ability and enthusiasm, 
and his influence was not limited to the employes of Samuel 
Owen. He preached in Stockholm from 1830 to 1842 with 
great success, and although he had had a predecessor in a 
certain Methodist clergyman by the name of Stewens, he may 
properly be considered as the founder of the Methodist 
Church in Sweden. In him Jonas Olson found a warm and 
sympathetic friend, with whom he had many extended con- 
versations upon religious subjects. Jonas Olson, indeed, 
never openly embraced Methodism, but was greatly influenced 
by its teachings, and even accepted its cardinal doctrine of 
sanctification. 

It was, however, especially in the matter of temperance 
reform that the two friends met on common ground. Under 
Scott's direction Jonas Olson began to organize temperance 
societies in his own and neighboring parishes. At first he 
met with considerable opposition. The clergy objected that 
Jesus at Canaan had not disdained to encourage the social 
practice of putting the wedding guests under the table. Jonas 
Olson's own pastor accused him of heinous designs upon his 
distillery. But the Crown soon lent its support to the move- 
ment, and then the clergy were everywhere among the first to 
sign the pledge. 

But it M^as not only as an organizer of temperance societies 
that Jonas Olson found expression for his change of attitude 
towards religion. Immediately upon his conversion in 1825 
he had begun to preach in the conventicles of the Devotion- 
alists, who were just then beginning to appear in Soderala 
Parish, in the province of Helsingland. In 1826 he married 
his first wife. The marriage proved a happy one, although 
but of short duration. The death of his wife, after onlv a 



14 The Bishop Hill Colony. [14 

year and a half of married life, caused him to throw himself 
with additional zeal into church work, and it was due to 
him that Devotionalism was carried to every quarter of the 
province of Helsingland. 

The Devotionalists were pietists, using the M'ord in the 
broader sense in which it is employed by Heppe and Ritschl. 
They did not form a separate sect. They were merely 
individuals who were dissatisfied with the absence of vital 
piety in the Established Church, and who wished to intro- 
duce a living Christianity by private preaching and by the 
superior piety of their lives. They were called Devotion- 
alists, or Readers [Lcisarc), because they assembled in private 
houses to hold devotional meetings, and because they read 
their Bibles and books of devotion assiduously in their 
homes. 

C. A. Cornelius says in his history of the Swedish Church, 
"If we consider European Christianity in its entirety, church 
work in the nineteenth century . . . has been characterized 
by an endeavor to repair the injury wrought by the century 
of the Illumination, and, if possible, to restore the old order 
of things." ^ It was this reactionary tendency which, in the 
Swedish Church, was represented by Devotionalism. 

Devotionalism had this in common with other pietistic 
movements in the latter part of the eighteenth and the begin- 
ning of the nineteenth centuries, that it sought to purify the 
Church from within ; that it supplemented the regular church 
service by conventicle worship ; that it paid less attention to 
objective purity of doctrine than subjective piety; that, in its 
zeal for the simplicity and vital Christianity of the Apostolic 
Church, it condemned many forms of amusement and recrea- 
tion in themselves entirely innocent. 

The clergy in the Swedish Church not being so thoroughly 
and generally rationalized as in other Protestant countries, 
the conditions were not present for a popular religious oppo- 

'C. A.Cornelius. Svenska Kyrkans Historia. Upsala, 1875, 2d ed., 
pp. 251-2. 



15] Bevotionalism in Helsingland from 1825 to 1842. 15 

sition movement of national dimensions, and thus we find 
that Swedish pietism did not produce any great national 
leader after whom it might be named. It began to spread 
under local leaders in the latter part of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. Its stronghold was Norrland, one of the great political 
divisions of Sweden, of which Helsingland is a subdivision. 

Economically, the province of Helsingland is well situated. 
It possesses rich iron mines, w^hich yield a large annual pro- 
duce. It also possesses linen and other manufactures. But 
the principal part of the population consists of independent 
peasants, who own their land in fee-simple. Helsingland is 
not cursed with the system of large landed estates which 
obtains farther south in Sweden, and consequently there are 
no Torpare, or cottagers, who eke out a precarious existence 
on small patches of land held in return for labor services 
rendered to the lord. The principal city is Gefle, built on a 
small inlet of the Gulf of Bothnia. It has a good harbor 
and is one of the best built towns in Sweden. Its population 
exceeds twenty thousand. The commerce is considerable. 
The exports consist of iron, timber, flax and linens. The 
imports are principally corn and salt. The population of 
Helsingland being chiefly agricultural, there are no important 
towns outside of Gefle. The peasants are frugal, thrifty and 
industrious. Their farms are small, but well kept and well 
cultivated, the staple produce being flax, rye and potatoes. 
The peasants place great pride in their neat red-painted farm- 
houses surrounded by patches of flowers and garden -truck. 
The roads are fine, and distances to market convenient. 

In spite of material prosperity, however, the state of edu- 
cation and morals in the early part of the present century 
was low. Drunkenness was a common vice. Many could 
not read, and few indeed were those who could write. Yet 
in this they were no better nor no worse than the peas- 
antry of other European countries at the time, for the day of 
modern public schools had not yet arrived. But with the 
advent of Devotionalism and temperance reform a radical 



16 The Bishop Hill Colony. [16 

change took place. The people began to read and turned to 
habits of industry and sobriety. 

It was the best part of the population which joined the 
Devotionalists, namely, the peasants and independent artisans. 
Some of the clergy, too, became interested and took part in 
the conventicles. But Jonas Olson continued to be the leader 
and the principal lay-member. He enjoyed the respect and 
the confidence of the entire community, representing it in a 
public capacity as juror to the district court. For seventeen 
years Jonas Olson and the Devotionalists of Helsingland 
assembled in conventicles and read their Bibles and books of 
devotion unmolested, enjoying their full privileges as mem- 
bers of the Established Church, when a new actor appeared 
upon the scene. This actor was Eric Janson. 

II. — The Rise op Jansonism. 

Eric Janson^ was born December 19, 1808, in Biskopskulla 
Parish, Uppland, and was the second son in a family of four 
sons and one daughter. His father, Johannes Mattson, was a 
poor man, who by thrift and industry succeeded in laying 
by enough means to become the owner of a small landed 
estate in Osterunda Parish, Westmanland, where Eric spent 
the formative period of his youth. Eric Janson was a born 
religious leader. He was not a profound speculator, but was 
endowed with a rare gift of eloquence and an extraordinary 
power to control the actions of large bodies of men. Little 
is known of his youth, except that his education was meagre, 
consisting merely of the religious instruction required in a 
catechumen of the Established Church. While yet a mere boy 
he experienced the call of religion, but soon suffered a re- 
lapse, and there was nothing in his mode of life to distin- 
guish him from the pleasure-loving youth of the social class 
to which he belonged. 

' This surname is a modified form of Johannes, the baptismal ntime of 
Eric's father. 



17] The Rise of Jansonism. 17 

At the age of twenty-six he experienced a miraculous cure 
from an affoiravated form of rheumatism. He had for some 
time been suffering intense pains, but, being a man of restless, 
active disposition, he could not be persuaded to treat himself 
as an invalid. One day, as he was plowing in the fields, an 
unusually severe attack came upon him, in which he fainted 
away. On regaining consciousness, he heard a voice saying : 
" It is writ that whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, 
ye shall receive ; all things are possible to him that believeth. 
' If ye shall ask anything in my name, I wall do it,' saith the 
Lord." Eric Janson recognized in the voice a message from 
God, and, falling upon his knees, prayed long and fervently 
that his lack of faith might be forgiven him and that his 
health might be restored. On arising, his pains had dis- 
appeared, never to return. 

From this time on his whole being was turned into reli- 
gious channels. He was seized with an insatiable thirst after 
spiritual knowledge. He read all the books of a devotional 
character that were to be had, but, not finding in them the 
peace that he longed for, turned himself towards the Bible as 
the sole source of spiritual comfort. His own personal ex- 
perience had taught him the efficacy of faith in prayer. To 
want of faith, then, he ascribed all the misery and suffering 
which he saw about him on every hand. This want of faith 
he attributed to the Established Church, which was concerned 
more with outward churchly ceremonies than with vital piety. 
From the subject of faith the transition of thought to the 
subject of sanctification was easy and natural. After pro- 
longed study he came to the conclusion that the Lutheran 
doctrine of sanctification Mas wrong, holding that the faithful 
have no sin. He seems not, however, to have advocated 
these views in public before 1840, for, although acting as a 
lay-preaclier among the Devotionalistsof Osterunda Parish, no 
suspicion attached to his orthodoxy previous to that year. 
But in 1840 he began to preach earnestly against the assumed 
abuse of the devotional literature, insisting that it distracted 



18 The Bishop Hill Colony. [18 

attention from the Bible, which was the only true source of 
spiritual knowledge. It was not until several years later 
that he began to oppose in public the Lutheran doctrine of 
sanctification. 

Up to the age of twenty -seven he remained with his 
parents, when, contrary to their will, he married a girl 
below his station. As a consequence he was thrown almost 
penniless upon his own resources. He rented a farm and 
undertook several small business ventures, in all of which 
he was successful, so that he was ultimately enabled to pur- 
chase the estate of Lotorp for 1000 rix-dollars, cash. 

In 1842, having heard of the Devotionalists in Helsing- 
land, he visited that province as a dealer in flour, in which 
capacity he traveled extensively in his OM^n and neighboring 
parishes. In 1843, at the age of thirty-four, he made his 
second visit to Helsingland. In January of this year, while 
passing through Soderala Parish, he formed an acquaintance 
which proved to be of inestimable importance in the shaping 
of future events. Discovering by mere chance that Jonas 
Olson was a Devotionalist, he applied to him for lodging 
over night, and his request was hospitably granted. It was 
a Saturday night. The stranger appeared reserved, and had 
nothing to say on religious subjects. The following morning 
Olson's married sister came over to buy some flour. But 
the stranger answered, " Do you not know that to-day is the 
Sabbath ? We will postpone business till to-morrow." The 
stranger accompanied the family to church. On the way 
home, contrary to the custom, he said not a word about the 
sermon. In the afternoon his host took him to a conventicle 
of the Devotionalists, where he was invited to speak. But 
he remained silent. On taking leave the following morning 
he said to his host, " I have had a restless night. The Lord 
hath imposed a duty upon me. I have struggled in prayer to 
avoid it, but cannot. Be a priest in your own house. I have 
been here a Saturday night and a Sunday night, and you 
have not assembled your household in prayer." 



19] The Rise of Jansonism. 19 

If Jonas Olson had been previously impressed by his 
guest's conduct, lie was not any the less so now. The rebuke 
Avas accepted in humility, and from that time on Jonas Olson 
recognized in the stranger a man of God. He accompanied 
him to Hudiksval and Gefle, and everywhere introduced him 
to the conventicles of the Devotionalists. On account of the 
personal standing of his introducer, Eric Janson everywhere 
met with a favorable reception. Everywhere he was invited 
to speak, and he now no longer refused. The appreciative- 
ness of his audiences spurred him on to his most eloquent 
efforts, and the evident results of his preaching convinced 
him that his mission as a revivalist lay in Helsingland. 

In June of the same year he made his third visit to Hel- 
singland. He was now in such demand that, like his great 
Master, he was obliged to travel by night and preach by day. 
His sermons frequently lasted from five to six hours. Many 
of the clergy visited his meetings, but as yet no objections 
were raised to his preaching. His fourth journey to Helsing- 
land was made in the following autumn. He now decided 
to sell his estate in Westmanland and move to Helsingland. 
In the meantime, however, his father died, and he moved 
instead into the home thus left vacant. Here he remained 
till April, 1844, when he accomplished his original purpose 
and removed to Forsa in the north of Helsingland. 

AVith the advent of Eric Janson to Helsingland in 1842 
we may, roughly speaking, say that Jansonism begins. Eric 
Janson never had any large following in his own province 
of Westmanland, nor even in his own parish. Although, 
indeed, he made numerous converts outside of Helsingland, 
this province nevertheless remained the Jansonist stronghold. 
The reason is to be sought in the fact that the conditions in 
Helsingland were particularly favorable for the reception of 
his doctrine. To the Devotionalists of Helsingland there 
was nothing positively new in his teaching. The two points 
in which he disagreed with the Established Church were, 
firstly, with regard to the doctrine of sanctification ; secondly, 



20 The Bishop Hill Colony. [20 

with regard to the devotional literature. In the doctrine of 
sanctification he agreed with the Methodists, holding that 
the faitliful have no sin. But, as we have seen, Jonas Olson 
had acce})ted this doctrine from George Scott, the English 
Methodist clergyman stationed in Stockholm. It is impos- 
sible to ascertain whether or not Eric Janson himself ever 
came under the personal influence of George Scott. Some of 
his followers assert that he did ; others assert with equal 
positiveness that he did not. But be that as it may, in 
matters of faith he had much in common with John Wesley, 
and his style of preaching and method of delivery is said to 
have resembled very much that of the early Methodists. 
Nor was his rejection of the devotional literature new in 
Helsingland. In 1805, Eric Stalberg, of the parish of Pitea, 
had founded a sect of Separatists, Mhich spread rapidly over 
the greater part of Norrland, including the province of Hel- 
singland. One characteristic of this sect was that, with the 
exception of Luther's writings, it discouraged the use of 
devotional literature, saying that, at the best, human writings 
are full of error and only tend to distract the attention from 
the Word of God. Although Jonas Olson and the majority 
of the orthodox Devotionalists in Helsingland cannot be 
said to have shared this view previous to the advent of Eric 
Janson, they were nevertheless familiar with it. 

Jansonism did not spring ready-made from the brain of 
its author. It was a gradual develoj)ment, and the form 
which it ultimately assumed was largely determined by the 
attitude of the Established Church. Eric Janson did not at 
first display any separatistic tendencies. He merely preached 
against the rationalism and dead orthodoxy which were preva- 
lent in the Swedish Church. He advocated a return to the 
sim])licity and earnestness of primitive Christianity. He 
warned his followers to read the Word of God, and did not 
hesitate to punish in public the sins of jiromincnt individuals. 
His preaching was of a j)rc'-eminontly nomistic character, 
and many even of those who thought they had found peace 



21] The Rise of Jansonism. 21 

in God saw the vanity of their lives. He traveled from 
parish to parish conducting revival meetings. The number 
of his adherents was soon estimated at from 1500 to 4000. 
The clergy became alarmed at the rapid growth of a strong 
religious sentiment over which they had no control and the 
import of which they did not understand. They regarded 
the Jansonists as a new sect holding doctrines that were 
subversive of the existing church organization. In order 
to regain their lost hold upon their congregations they 
denounced Janson from the pulpit, and appeared in the con- 
venticles to warn their parishioners against the impostor and 
false prophet. They attem])ted to refute his heresies with 
regard to the devotional literature and the doctrine of sancti- 
fication. But Janson was gifted with a matchless power of 
debate, besides being well versed in the Scriptures, and 
whenever it came to a battle of words was almost certain to 
come off victorious. The Jansonists were refused admittance 
to the Lord's Supper. Eric Janson retaliated by saying 
that there could be no faith without persecution ; that there 
w-as no saving power in the sermon of an unconverted min- 
ister; and forbade his followers to worship in the Established 
Church, holding his conventicles at the time of the regular 
church service. This was the beginning of his estrangement 
from the Established Church. 

As the influence of Janson increased, so also the number 
and hostility of his enemies. His followers were subjected 
to the abuse and insult of the rabble. Their meetings were 
disturbed, their houses pelted with stones, and their persons 
assaulted. But they praised the Lord who tried their faith 
by allowing them to be persecuted. They marched along 
the public highways at night and sang spiritual hymns, or 
gathered in front of the parsonages to pray for the conversion 
of their unregenerate pastors. When their conventicles were 
prohibited they assembled in the woods and in out of the way 
places to partake of the Holy Communion. Faint rumors of 
these midnight gatherings came to the church authorities, and 



22 The Bishop Hill Colony. [22 

the spectre of a new peasant insurrection stalked abroad. 
Eric Janson was regarded as a second Thomas Miinzer. He 
was charged with all sorts of atrocious crimes. A large 
number of his followers were women. Women frequently 
accompanied him on his missionary journeys. With one of 
these, by the name of Sophia Schon, he was particularly 
accused of sustaining improper relations. One night she 
was surprised in her home by the pastor of Osterunda Parish, 
who had come with a number of his henchmen to find Erie 
Janson. Eric Janson was, of course, not to be found ; but 
Sophia Schtin was dragged from her bed and brought, dressed 
only in her linen, to the sheriff's bailiif. 

In June, 1844, an event took place which gave the oppo- 
nents of the new heresy an opportunity of adopting severe 
legal measures. Already since 1840 Eric Janson had wit- 
nessed against the assumed abuse of the devotional literature. 
The human writings of Luther, Arndt, Scriver, Nohrborg 
had usurped the place of the Bible. These new idols had 
stolen away the hearts of the people. They must be destroyed. 

The burning of the books took place June 11. A great 
concourse of people from the country around assembled on a 
farm near the town of Tranberg. An immense bonfire was 
made of books, pamphlets, tracts — everything except the 
Bible, the hymn-book and catechism. Amidst the singing 
of hymns and great spiritual exaltation the assemblage 
watched the destruction of the "Harlot of Babylon." 

The embers of the fire had hardly died out before the news 
was spread in every quarter of Sweden. People were horri- 
fied. Two days later, Janson was arrested by the Crown 
officials and brought before the sheriff's court in Gefle. 
After a preliminary. trial he was transferred to the sheriff's 
court in Westeras, under whose jurisdiction he properly be- 
longed. Here his mental condition was examined into by a 
medical expert, while a court chaplain examined into his 
spiritual. He was finally released to await a new trial, but 
was not allowed to return to Helsingland. 



23] The Rise of Jansonism. 23 

In the meantime, delegations of his adherents had visited 
the king, and had been promised a hearing of their grievances 
before the proper authorities. Upon his release Janson 
himself sought admission to the king, and was so graciously 
received that he wrote back to his friends, " I have triumphed 
at court." In September, 1844, he was summoned to 
appear before court in Westeras. In his defense he stated 
that the Church had abused its trust; that it had fallen 
from the true faith ; that its servants were mere worldlings ; 
that he was sent by God to restore the faith and show sinners 
the way of salvation. He was released and allowed a pass 
to his home in Forsa, in Helsingland. 

In the meantime, the ardor of his adherents in Helsingland 
had not abated. Jansonism was being preached in every 
quarter. The reappearance of the leader gave a new impetus 
to the movement. His enemies had not been able to do him 
any inj ury. The king and the highest secular authorities in 
the realm were his sympathizers. It was only the hierarchy 
of the Established Church that sought his destruction. But 
full amnesty might soon be expected, the abominable machina- 
tions of the Church would be thwarted, the dawn of religious 
freedom was not far distant. So thought his simple-minded 
followers. His journey through Helsingland was one con- 
tinued ovation. Everywhere the people flocked to the con- 
venticles. Those who were left in doubt by his preaching 
were converted by the magnetic touch of his hand. In some 
parishes the churches remained almost empty. 

October 28, 1844, the second crusade against religious 
books took place — this time is Soderala Parish — and now 
not even the hymn-book and the catechism were spared. 
Janson was immediately arrested. But there was reason to 
be cautious. He was again released to await a new trial. 
Hardly had he been released before he was rearrested and 
condemned to a short imprisonment for holding revival meet- 
ings. December 18 he was summoned before the House of 
Bishops in Upsala. His case was not decided. 



24 The Bishop Hill Colony. [24 

It would be neither profitable nor interesting to rehearse 
the legal chicanery and petty persecution with which his life 
was embittered, and by which he was egged on, as it were, to 
abandon all Lutheran traditions and assume a position of 
open hostility to the Established Church. Through the zeal 
of the inferior clergy he was arrested six times, being three 
times released by royal orders ; twice he was admitted to the 
king ; he was transferred from one court to another ; but, it 
is claimed, nev^er received a thorough and impartial investi- 
gation. 

His followers were subjected to the same sort of treatment. 
The ancient and obsolete law against conventicles, adopted in 
1726 against Hallean pietists and other heretics, was revived 
in all its severity. Jonas Olson and his younger brother, 
Olof Olson, were made to pay heavy fines for participating 
in the destruction of the religious books and for holding 
conventicles. They also were summoned before the House 
of Bishops in Upsala to answer for their religious opinions. 

Finally, a price was put upon Eric Janson's head. He 
was hunted from place to place, leading a life as adventurous 
as even that of the sweet singer of Brandenburg in the seven- 
teenth century. On being captured, his friends feared that 
he would never be released, and conspired to effect his escape. 
Some of them, under color of violence, took him away from 
the Crown official, as he was being conveyed from Gefle 
to Westeras, and brought him over the mountains into Nor- 
way. From there he went to Copenhagen, where, in the 
company of a few friends, he embarked for New York. In 
July, 1846, he arrived in Victoria, Knox County, Illinois, 
whither he had been preceded by Olof Olson. 

III. — Emigration of the Jansonists and the Found- 
ing OF THE Bishop Hill Colony. 

While hiding in the mountain fastnesses of Soderala and 
Alfta, Eric Janson had planned the emigration of his followers 



25] Founding of the Bishop Hill Colony. 25 

from Sweden, and the founding in America of a socialistic 
theocratic commimity, for he had by this time abandoned all 
hopes of obtaining in Sweden religious liberty, either for 
himself or for his followers. Impelled from one point to 
another by the spirit of opposition, he had now developed an 
independent system of theology, directly antagonistic to the 
authority of the Established Church. Without incurring the 
displeasure of the Church, he had begun his reformatory 
activity by opposing the use of the devotional literature. 
Then he had opposed the Lutheran doctrine of sanctification. 
For this, himself and his adherents had been excluded from 
participation in the Lord's Supper, whereupon he had dealt 
out the Lord's Supper with his own hands. IMeeting with 
legal prosecution at the hands of the inferior clergy, he had 
rejected the authority of the Established Church altogether, 
and proclaimed himself as the representative of Christ, sent 
to restore the true Christian Church, which had disappeared 
from the face of the earth with the introduction of established 
state churches. 

The central idea of Jansonism in this final stage of its 
development may be summed up as follows : When perse- 
cution ceased under Constantine the Great and Christianity 
became the state religion, Christianity became extinct. Eric 
Janson was sent to restore Christianity. He represented the 
second coming of Christ. Christ revealed himself through 
him, and should continue to do the same through the seed of his 
body. The second advent of Christ was to be more glorious 
than the first. "As the splendor of the second temple at 
Jerusalem far exceeded that of the first, erected by the son 
of David, so also the glory of the work M^iich is to be accom- 
plished by Eric Janson, standing in Christ's stead, shall far 
exceed that of the work accomplished by Jesus and his 
Apostles."^ Eric Janson was to separate the children of 
Crod from the world and gather them into a theocratic com- 
munity. In America he was to build up the New Jerusalem, 

' Cateehes. Af Eric Janson. Soderhamn, 1846, p. 80. 



26 The Bishop Hill Colony. [26 

from whence the Gospel should go forth to all the world. 
The New Jerusalem should quickly extend its boundaries 
until it embraced all the nations of the earth. Then should 
the millennium be ushered in, in which Eric Janson, or the 
heirs of his body, should, as the representatives of Christ, 
reign to the end of all time. 

In 1845 he had sent Olof Olson to America to examine 
the country and fix upon a suitable location for the com- 
munity. This was before the modern Swedish emigration 
to the New World. America was a name almost unknown 
to the peasants of Helsingland. But in 1843 an adventur- 
ous Swede from the parish of Alfta had wandered as far 
west as Chicago. He had written home glowing accounts of 
the country. His letters had been circulated among friends 
and acquaintances, and their contents had inspired the perse- 
cuted Jansonists with a new hope. In America there was no 
established church ; there were no inquisitorial and tyran- 
nous priests, no supercilious aristocracy ; there was a home 
for every one, and, above all, religious and political liberty. 
The Jansonists possessed a strong love of home and country, 
but the exile which they had formerly feared under the con- 
venticle laws no longer appeared so terrible. 

In New York, Olof Olson made the acquaintance of the 
Rev. Mr. Hedstrom, who is known as the founder of the 
Swedish Methodist Church in America. Hedstrom was 
stationed as a missionary among the Scandinavian seamen in 
New York. He held his services in a dismantled vessel, a 
part of which was fitted up for the reception of Olof Olson's 
family, consisting of his wife and two children, who re- 
mained there during the winter of 1845-6. Under the influ- 
ence of Hedstrom, Olof Olson joined the Methodist com- 
munion, and presently proceeded on his way to Victoria, 
Knox County, Illinois, where he was hospitably received by 
Hedstrom's brother. After a prospecting tour of Illinois, 
Wisconsin and Minnesota, Olof Olson wrote back to Sweden 
confirming previous favorable reports of the country, and 



27] Founding of the Bishop Hill Colony. 27 

recommending Illinois as the future place of settlement. In 
July of 1846 he was joined by Eric Janson, and together 
they fixed upon a point in Henry County as the location of the 
settlement. Olof Olson, however, never joined the community, 
but purchased a farm near Victoria, where he died shortly 
after the arrival of the main body of the Jansonists. 

Before leaving Sweden, Eric Janson had appointed certain 
trustworthy men to conduct the emigration. Chief among 
these were Jonas Olson, Olof Johnson, Andreas Berglund, 
and Olof Stenberg, all of whom were to play an important 
part in the later history of the Jansonists. 

While the orthodox Devotionalists in Helsingland con- 
sisted chiefly of independent farmers and artisans, the Jan- 
sonists included in their number a large proportion of miners 
and factory hands, and poor people of every description, for 
Jausonism was, in the true sense of the word, a popular 
religious movement. Many of the Jansonists were therefore 
persons who were un-able to defray the expenses of a long 
journey. It was this fact which prompted Eric Janson to 
make community of goods a part of the social economy of 
the New Jerusalem. He based his reasons for the adoption 
of communism entirely on scriptural grounds. Neither he 
nor his followers knew any other form of communism than 
that based on religion. The Jansonists were unacquainted 
with the philosophical systems of the great social reformers of 
France. The politico-economic questions that were agitating 
the proletariat in the great world without had left them 
undisturbed. They were illiterate people. Their reading 
was limited to one book, but in that book they found that the 
first Christian church had taken care of its poor and that 
material goods had been held in common. So the wealthy 
sold their property, real as well as personal, and the proceeds 
went to the common coffers to be added to the widow's mite. 
The sums which were thus contributed ranged from 24,000 
crowns downward, and were paid over to the men in charge 
of the emigration. 



28 The Bishop Hill Colony. [28 

When the time for the emigration arrived it was found 
that 1100 Jansonists were willing to abandon their homes for 
the sake of religion. It was impossible to secure passage at 
one and the same time for so many people, for the Swedish 
vessels which touched at American ports were limited in 
number and were merely freight vessels without accommoda- 
tions for passengers. So the emigrants were dispatched in 
parties as opportunity offered. The vessels were small, 
rooming only from fifty to one hundred and fifty passengers 
apiece. Many of them were unseaworthy, and not unfre- 
quently they were overloaded. One was lost at sea, another 
was shipwrecked off the coast of Newfoundland, and still 
another occupied five months in the voyage. 

The emigrants gathered in Goteborg, Soderhamn and 
Stockholm, but by far the greatest number sailed from Gefle. 
The first vessel to set sail from Gefle left in the summer of 
1846. For weeks previous to the departure of the vessel 
vehicles of every description came trundling into tlie seaboard 
town of Gefle. From a distance of over a hundred miles 
pedestrians came in travel-stained and foot-sore. A feverish 
excitement reigned. No one Avanted to be left behind, for the 
Jansonists believed that when they should stand out to sea 
Sweden would be destroyed for the iniquity of the Estab- 
lished Church. It was a sad parting. Families were torn 
asunder, children left their parents, husbands left their wives, 
the mother left her infant in the cradle. It was the flower of 
the youth that went, principally young men and women 
between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five. Their friends 
never expected to hear of them again. It was feared that 
they would be taken by pirates, or that the captains of their 
vessels would sell them into slavery, or bring them to the 
terrible " island " of Siberia where the Czar of Russia sends 
all his desperate criminals. In American M'aters, too, there 
were frightful sea-monsters, more ferocious and destructive 
than even the Alidgard serpent. And if America was the 
home of freedom and a country of fabulous wealth, it was 



29] Founding of the Bishop Hill Colony. 29 

also the resort of cut-throats and assassins and full of tropical 
abnormities. 

Everything was ready for the departure when, at the very 
last moment, the passports were withheld by the authorities. 
However, a delegation of the Jansonists, headed by Jonas 
Olson, waited upon King Oscar I., who gave them an order 
for the necessary papers. 

The first shipload of passengers was met in New York by 
Eric Janson, who had proceeded from Victoria to meet them. 
From Troy the emigrants went by canal to Buffalo, thence 
by way of the Great Lakes to Chicago. In Chicago they 
purchased horses and wagons for the conveyance of the 
invalids and the baggage. The able-bodied walked on foot 
one hundred miles across the unbroken prairie to Victoria, 
where the party arrived in July, 1846. A few days later the 
Jansonists removed to Red Oak Grove, about three miles 
west of the present Bishop Hill, where for two hundred and 
fifty dollars their leader had purchased an improved eighty- 
acre farm in section nine of Weller Township, August 2 
one hundred and sixty acres of land in section eight of the 
same township were purchased for ^1100. This was a very 
desirable piece of property, containing not only cultivated 
fields, but also a log-cabin and outhouses. 

It now remained to choose a suitable town-site. The 
southeast quarter of section fourteen, township fourteen, was 
finally decided upon, and purchased of the United States 
government, September 26, for $200. It was a beautiful 
spot, sparsely covered with a small growth of oak trees, and 
located on the south bank of the South Edward Creek. On 
the same day two additional quarters were purchased in sec- 
tions twenty-three and twenty-four of the same township for 
$400. 

Anticipating the arrival of the second party of immigrants, 
two log-houses and four large tents M'ere erected, all of which 
Avere in readiness when Jonas Olson arrived with his party 
on the 28th of October. Simultaneously with the setting in 



30 The Bishop Hill Colony. [30 

of cold weather, when the tents had to be vacated, a new 
party arrived. Several log cabins were hastily put together, 
and a large sod house erected, which latter served as a com- 
mon kitchen and dining-hall. Twelve "dug-outs," about 
twenty-five or thirty feet long and eighteen feet wide, were 
also built. In these dug-outs two tiers of beds were placed 
along each wall, and each bed held two or more occupants. 
In one dug-out there were three tiers of beds and three occu- 
pants in each bed, fifty-two unmarried women performing 
their toilets there morning and evening. The mud caves 
were damp and unwholesome, and the mortality was frightful. 
Nearly every morning a fresh corpse would be pulled out 
from the reeking death-traps. Before the snow fell a fourth 
party of immigrants had arrived, and four hundred persons 
wintered in the settlement, of whom seventy were stationed 
at Red Oak Grove. 

One of the first concerns of the Jansonists was to provide 
a place of worship. Already before the arrival of the second 
party a large tabernacle had been erected. It was built in 
the form of a cross and was able to room about a thousand 
persons. The material consisted of logs and canvas, and 
the whole structure was intended merely as a temporary 
makeshift. Divine worship was held here twice a day on 
week days and three times on Sundays. Eric Janson him- 
self went the rounds of the camp at five o'clock in the morn- 
ing to call the people to devotion. Half an hour later the 
services began, and frequently lasted for two hours. The 
second devotional meeting was held in the evening. When 
spring arrived, however, and the work in the fields began, 
the morning and evening devotions were substituted by a short 
meeting during the noon recess, and in favorable weather 
this was frequently conducted in the open air. 

The Jansonists were illiterate people, but they held 
progressive views with regard to elementary education. 
Already the first Avinter, at such times when the weather 
prevented out-door work, a school for adults was carried on 



31] Founding of the Bishop Hill Colony. 31 

in the tabernacle by Mrs. Hebbe and, later, Mr. Hellstrom, 
who both instructed in the advanced arts of writing and 
ciphering. A similar school for adults was established at 
Red Oak. As early as January, 1847, an English school 
was opened. A Presbyterian clergyman, the Rev. Mr. 
Talbot, taught some thirty -five children in a mud-cave from 
January to July. At times he was assisted by his two 
daughters and by Mrs. Pollock, who was a member of the 
community. Mr. Talbot was succeeded by Nelson Simons, 
M. D. 

Measures were also taken for the propaganda of faith. 
Eric Janson appointed twelve young men to be the apostles 
of Jansonism in the New World. Great expectations were 
centered in these twelve young men. After a few months' 
instruction in the English language, they were sent out upon 
their mission to convert the United States and the world. 
They met with but moderate success, however, for the 
Yankee was too busy inventing bad clocks and peddling 
cheap tinware to listen to what the missionaries had to say. 

The community experienced great difficulty in securing 
sufficient food. After the expenses of the journey and the 
purchase of so much land, the funds of the society were well 
nigh exhausted, and credit they had none. The grain had to 
be hauled twenty -eight miles to the nearest mill to be ground. 
But the mill was constantly under repairs and could not be 
relied upon. After attempting to supply their wants by 
means of hand-mills, the society erected a small grist-mill on 
the Edwards Creek, which, when the water failed, was run by 
horse-power. 

In the spring of 1847 the community began to manufac- 
ture adobe. Several houses were built of this material, some 
of which remained standing until 1862. The ravine which 
intersected the town-site contained chalkstone in abundance, 
and the preparation of it into cement was taught the Jan- 
sonists by Philip Mauk. The first frame building was also 
erected in 1847, the lumber being hauled from Red Oak 



32 The Bishop Hill Colony. [32 

Grove, where a sawmill, run by horse-power, had been put 
up by the society. As the needs of the society increased, 
this mill was later on bartered away for a larger one run by 
water-power. May 4, 1848, the society purchased of Cramer 
and Wilsie forty acres of land for ^1500. This land was 
excellent timber land, and contained a sawmill more than 
large enough to supply all the wants of the society. 

While the Jansonists had been em])loyed in these building 
operations they had not neglected agriculture. The land at 
Red Oak Grove had been put under cultivation, and pieces 
of land had been rented here and there, for which they were 
obliged to pay one-third of the gross ])roduce. During the 
first year the Jansonists broke three hundred and fifty acres 
of land and laid three and a half miles of sod fence. In the 
autumn of the year their threshing was done by Mr. Brode- 
rick, whose machine they purchased, only to make it serve as 
a model for a larger and more improved machine of their own 
make. 

November 18, one hundred acres of land in section seven- 
teen, Weller Township, were purchased of W. H. Griffins for 
three hundred and eighty dollars. 

June 4, 1847, the fifth party of Jansonists arrived. The 
party contained, besides children, four hundred adults. This 
accretion to the community required the )>urchaKe of more 
land. Before the close of the year the following purchases 
had been made: eighty acres in section seventeen, two hun- 
dred and forty acres in secti{m sixteen, thirty-nine acres 
belonging to Mr. Broderick, besides other property. 

In January of the following year an old-fashioned wind 
grist-mill was erected, the mill on the p]d\\ards Creek proving 
inadequate to meet the increasing demands made upon it. 

With the arrival of the new party a great scarcity of 
dwelling room arose. Five new mud-caves were excavated 
for the people, while similar provisions were made for the 
horses and cattle. Nevertheless the Jansonists suffered in- 
tensely. The winter was a severe one. The dug-outs were 



33] Founding of the Bishop Hill Colony. 33" 

damp and unwholesome and fearfully crowded. The ravine 
into which they faced was alternately swept by fierce wind 
storms or choked up with snow. There was lack of pro- 
visions, and the Jansonists suffered from hunger as well as 
from cold. The change of climate also produced suffering. 
Fevers, chills and diarrhoea were common, and many suc- 
cumbed. The hardships were more than many members of 
the community had the resolution to bear, and they left 
singly and in squads as their lack of faith and pressing wants 
seemed to require. The seeds of internal discord, too, were 
sown, for religious differences arose which resulted in the 
withdrawal of about two hundred members in the autumn of 
1848. The majority, however, remained steadfast. Their 
courage was cheered by the matchless eloquence of their 
leader, and their unshakable faith in him helped them to 
surmount all difficulties. 

In the summer of 1848 the Jansonists began to manufac- 
ture kiln-dried brick, the kilns being located about one mile 
west of the settlement. A four-story brick house one hun- 
dred by forty-five feet was erected, which, in 1851, was ex- 
tended one hundred feet. The basement was arranged into a 
common dining-hall and kitchen, whereas the upper stories 
were divided into dwelling apartments. At the same time, 
several frame tenement houses and some additional houses of 
adobe were erected. In this year also the Old Colony 
Church, a large frame edifice, the upper part of which was 
designed to serve as a church, while the basement was 
arranged into tenements, was begun and completed in the 
following year, the tabernacle having been previously destroyed 
by fire. 

With improved dwellings came improved health. Even 
those who had to remain in the mud-caves were better off, 
because they were no longer so crowded, and they found, in 
the summer-time at least, plenty of exercise in the open air. 
For there were no drones in this hive. The incentive to 
work, which one should suppose had been removed with the 



34 The Bishop HiU Colony. [34 

removal of individual property, was supplied by religion. 
They were no longer working for their own advancement, but 
for the glory of God. Had He not led them, as He had led 
the people of Israel, to a new Canaan? They were His 
chosen people. In them His wonderful designs for the re- 
generation of the world were to be fulfilled. Their city was 
the refuge of the faithful ; it was the New Jerusalem. So 
they reclaimed the prairie and subdued the forest to further 
the kingdom of God. Their labor was not in vain. The 
earth gave forth bountifully of its harvests and prosperity 
attended upon them. 

Their methods of agriculture were laborious, but as their 
means improved, and as they learned the ways of the country 
of their adoption, they became as expert as any in the use of 
improved machinery. In the autumn of 1847 they harvested 
their grain in the Swedish fashion with the scythe. In 1848 
they introduced cradles, and, in 1849, reapers. In order to 
secure the harvest of 1848 thirty cradle-scythes were kept 
going day and night, until it was discovered that the night 
work endangered the health, when eighteen hours were made 
to constitute a day's work. The young men wielded the 
cradles — and wonderful feats were performed with the cradle 
in those days — while the middle-aged men and the women 
bound the sheaves ; boys and girls gathered the sheaves 
together, while the old men placed them in shocks. In the 
evening, when the day's work was done and the harvesters 
were retiring from the field, an interesting spectacle presented 
itself to the observer. Two by two, in a long procession a 
couple of hundred strong, the harvesters wended their home- 
ward way, first the men carrying their cradle-scythes over 
their shoulders, then the women with their hand-rakes, and, 
finally, the children, all singing some merry harvest-song of 
their native country, while keeping step to the music. On 
arriving at the village they repaired to the common dining 
hall, where a bounteous repast awaited them on long wooden 
tables, some of which were set aside for the men, others for 
the women, and still others for the children. 



35] Founding of the Bishop Hill Colony. 35 

Another important industry of the community was the 
cultivation of flax. This was the staple industry in the pro- 
vince of Helsingland, and the Jansonists were thoroughly 
familiar with every branch of it. Already the first year they 
put part of their field^ under cultivation for flax. They also 
helped the neighboring farmers, who cultivated the plant 
merely for the sake of the seed, to harvest their crops, and 
received the straw in payment for th^ir work. From the 
crop of 1847 they manufactured 12,473 yards of linen and 
carpet matting, for all of which they found a ready sale. 
The volume of manufacture continued to increase till 1851, 
when it reached 30,579 yards of linen and carpeting. After 
this it decreased till 1857, when it ceased altogether, except 
for home consumption, the new railroad enabling the eastern 
manufacturers to flood the market with their wares and 
drive out competition. The aggregate amount of linen sold 
to 1857 was 130,309 yards and of carpeting 22,569 yards. 
To this must be added the no inconsiderable quantities con- 
sumed at home in order to arrive at the total amount of 
manufacture. The spinning and weaving were done exclu- 
sively by women, children of both sexes assisting at spooling 
and other light work. In the early years when looms were 
scarce the weavers were divided into squads and the looms 
kept running night and day. 

The sixth party of immigrants arrived in 1849, and con- 
sisted of Swedish and Norwegian converts under the leader- 
ship of the Jansonist missionary Nylund. Between La Salle 
and Chicago the party was attacked by the Asiatic cholera. 
Arrived in Chicago in a pitiable condition, the party Avas 
met by a member of the community, who conducted it to 
Bishop Hill. Thus the dread disease was transplanted to 
the society, and, breaking out on the 22d day of July, raged 
without intermission till the middle of September. It carried 
away one hundred and forty-three persons in the prime of 
life. The excessive mortality was due partly to improper 
treatment, the fever-parched patients being, according to the 



36 The Bishop Hill Colony. [36 

old medical superstition, not allowed to touch water. Some 
of the Jansonists removed to the neighborhood of La Grange, 
where the community possessed some real ])roperty, but, 
finding themselves still pursued by the fell destroyer, fled in 
vain to an island in the Mississippi, where Eric Janson's 
wife and one child were among the victims. 

In 1850 another party arrived under the leadership of 
Olof Stenberg, who was returning from a business visit to 
Sweden. Stenberg's party was attacked by the Asiatic 
cholera between Buffalo and ^Milwaukee. The party consisted 
of one hundred and sixty persons. On account of stress of 
weather and a breakage in the machinery, the voyage by 
steamer occupied no less than two weeks. The provisions gave 
out and the passengers suffered famine as wel 1 as disease. Many 
were buried in the waters of Lake Michigan, and many died 
in the lazaretto at Milwaukee. The leader has been accused 
of criminal negligence with regard to the performance of 
certain duties, but on the evidence of surviving membersof his 
party the charge is without foundation. 

Later in the same year still another party arrived ; it con- 
sisted of eighty persons. The tenth i)arty consisted of seventy 
persons and arrived in 1854. Besides these larger accre- 
tions, converts joined the society singly and in groups, and 
continued to do so up to a late date. 

It was now a little over three years since the village of Bishop 
Hill had sprung into existence. It took its being eleven 
years after the first white man's habitaticm had been erected 
in the country which came to be organized as Henry County, 
and nine years after that organization had taken place. Pre- 
vious to it there existed, besides some others, the infant set- 
tlements of Andover, Genesceo, Wethersfield, and La Grange, 
the products of a strange mixture of iNew England philan- 
thropy and speculation. But from the very day of its foun- 
dation, Bishop Hill assumed the chief place among the settle- 
ments in Henry County. From 1846 to 1850, in the 
purchase of land and the necessaries of life, it put between 



37] Founding of the Bishop Hill Colony. 37 

$10,000 and $15,000 in gold into circulation, which was a 
matter of extreme importance at a time when business was 
principally conducted by barter, and when the only money in 
use was paper money valued at a few cents on the dollar. 
In 1850 its population had swelled to over one thousand, 
while the entire ])opulation ofihe county, an area of eight 
hundred and thirty square miles, was only three thousand, 
eight hundred and seven. If the labor value of an immi- 
grant may be capitalized at ten hundred dollars, then the 
Jansonists had in their persons alone brought one million 
dollars into the country. Nearly every province in Sweden 
was represented in the community at Bishop Hill, and the 
Jansonists' letters home concerning the new country paved 
the way for that mighty tide of Swedish immigration which 
in a few years began to roll in upon Illinois and the North- 
west, and which in 1882 culminated in a grand total for the 
year of 64,607 souls. For nine successive years, from 1878 
to 1886, there arrived annually from the native land of the 
Jansonists more immigrants than from France or Italy or 
Austria or Russia, or any country save only Great Britain 
and Germany. 

But while the Norns were weaving the fabric of history, 
the Jansonists were building their village and improving the 
resources of the wilderness. In 1850 they owned in fee 
simj)le or possessed an equitable interest in about fourteen 
hundred acres of land, which were partially under culti- 
vation for wheat, flax and corn, and partly set aside for 
the pasturage of large herds of horses and cattle. The village 
of Bishop Hill, named after BiskopskuUa, the birthplace of 
Eric Janson, consisted of several large brick houses, all of 
which, with the exception of one, M^cre of adobe, a number 
of log and frame buildings, and seventeen dug-outs, together 
with storehouses, barns and outhouses of every description. 
It contained at least the nuclei of a store, a blacksmith 
shop, and all the other appurtenances of a modern Western 
city. At the head of the community — at the head of the 



38 The Bishop Hill Colony. [38 

industrial army of one thousand busy workmen — was one 
supreme director. Eric Jan son was the temporal as well 
as spiritual ruler. He appointed the superintendents of 
departments and the foremen of gangs. Nothing was under- 
taken without his sanction. He represented the community 
in business on the markets in Chicago and St. Louis. 
Property M'as bought and sold in his name or in the name of 
agents appointed by him. The society was, indeed, still 
struggling with poverty and debt, but the primary conditions 
of prosperity were nevertheless manifestly present. 

ly. — The Adventurer John Root and the Murder 
OF Eric Janson. 

In the autumn of 1848 there arrived in Bishop Hill an 
adventurer by the name of John Root. He was the son of 
well-to-do parents in Stockholm, and a man of education, 
refinement of manners and pleasing address. For some 
unknown reason he had emigrated from Sweden. As a 
soldier in the United States army he had taken part in the 
Mexican campaign. After receiving his discharge at the 
close of the war he found his Avay to Bishop Hill. He was 
received with open arms by Eric Janson and the society, and 
was presently admitted as a member. He soon fell in love 
with a cousin of Eric Janson and applied to him for her 
hand in marriage. The request was granted, it being stipu- 
lated, however, that if Root should ever wish to leave the 
society, it was to be optional with his wife whether to accom- 
pany him or not. A written document to this effect was 
drawn up and duly signed by the contracting parties. It 
soon became apparent that the new member was not fitted for 
a religious communistic society. He was opposed to serious 
labor, and spent his time in the chase, with his gun on his 
shoulder and his bowie-knife in his belt. But tirins; even of 
this employment, he sought new adventures as interpreter and 
guide to a Hebrew peddler. The Jew was never heard of 



39] The Adventurer John Root. 39 

again ; but a few years after the decomposed body of a mur- 
dered man was discovered under the floor of a deserted cabin 
some miles from Bishop Hill. After an absence of several 
months, during which time his wife gave birth to a child, 
John Root returned. Very soon he proposed to his wife that 
they leave the society, to which she strenuously objected. 
Eric Janson supported Mrs. Root in her determination to 
remain, which exasperated Root to such an extent that he 
threatened the lives of both Mrs. Root and Eric Janson. 
Perceiving that he could neither persuade nor frighten his 
wife into submission, he determined to carry her away by 
force. Obtaining the aid of a young man by the name of 
Stanley, he drove into Bishop Hill one day while the mem- 
bers of the community were at dinner, and, rushing into his 
wife's apartment, caught her up in his arms and carried her 
to the vehicle in waiting. The alarm was given, however, 
and the fugitives were hotly pursued. Two miles from the 
village they were overtaken by a dozen sturdy Jansonists on 
horseback and compelled to halt. The rescuers explained 
that if Mrs. Root wished to leave the community she was at 
liberty to do so; but if she desired to remain they proposed 
to take her back, by force, if need be. Meanwhile Root and 
Stanley, being both armed, kept the rescuing party at bay. 
But at this juncture Mrs. Root, who, together with her child, 
had been placed in the bottom of the wagon, made a des- 
perate effort to release herself. In the struggle to prevent 
her from so doing, Root laid his revolver on the seat behind 
him, where it was immediately snatched by one of the 
rescuing party. Stanley promptly surrendered, and Mrs. 
Root was brought back to the village in triumph. Thwarted 
in his purpose of forcible abduction, Root had recourse to 
the law, and swore out a warrant for the arrest of Eric 
Janson and others, on the charge of restraining the liberty of 
his wife. Mrs. Root was subpoenaed as a witness. The 
officer who was charged with the execution of the summons 
insisted upon her accompanying him at once. He took her 



40 The Bishop Hill Colony. [40 

to Cambridge, where she was illegally confined in a room and 
denied communication with her friends. Here Root got 
possession of his wife a second time, and spirited her away to 
the Rock River settlement. Thence he took her to Daven- 
port, and finally to Chicago, where he had a sister living. 
The sister, disapproving of Root's conduct, communicated 
with the Jansonists at Bishop Hill, and Eric Janson sent a 
delegation to Chicago to oifer Mrs. Root safe-conduct to the 
community. A place was designated where at a given time 
she might meet her friends. Knowing the desperate charac- 
ter of Root and anticipating a hot pursuit, men had been 
stationed with relays of horses at intervals along the road 
from Chicago to Bishop Hill, and the distance of one hun- 
dred and fifty miles was accomplished without a single stop. 
When Root found that his wife had escaped, his rage knew 
no bounds. Baffled in his attempt to overtake her, he pro- 
ceeded to the Rock River settlement, whence he returned to 
Bishop Hill, at the head of a mob. The mob terrorized the 
village for a few days, but finding neither Mrs. Root nor the 
principal agents in her abduction, presently dispersed. This 
was in the latter part of March, 1850. In the following 
week, on the evening of April 1, Root returned at the head 
of a second mob, angrier and more formidable than the first. 
A veteran of the Mexican Mar had been robbed of his wife, 
who was held in duress by a set of communists, for what vile 
purpose no one knew. It was only six years since the hate- 
ful Mormons had been expelled and their city and temple 
well-nigh razed to the ground ; what was to hinder that this 
new Nauvoo should likewise be wiped off from the face of 
the earth? The rough, but justice-loving frontiersmen 
poured into the encampment at Buck Grove, half a mile from 
Bishop Hill, until the mob grew to the proportions of an 
army. The village was surrounded and communication with 
the outside world shut off. For three days the Regulators 
hesitated to begin the work of destruction. Janson was hid 
in an artificial cave out on the prairie, Olson was absent on 



41] The Adventurer John Boot. 41 

business in Andov^er — all the pvincipal participants in the 
aiFair between Root and his wife had been spirited away. 
When the attempt was finally made to burn the village, the 
mob was met by an armed posse of the neighboring settlers, 
who had come to the relief of the community. The mob, 
seeing that it would have to encounter a desperate resistance, 
allowed itself to be persuaded of the innocent character of 
the society, and dispersed without having done any serious 
injury. 

During these critical times the Jansonists bore themselves 
with fortitude, as befitted a religious people. Indeed, splen- 
did displays of heroism were not wanting. Thus, Nils Hell- 
boni committed an act of deliberate and premeditated bravery 
which might easily have cost him his life. The story of it is 
told as follows : " The mob had surreptitiously introduced a 
tall Indian into the woods. It is the Indian custom to re- 
move the hair together with the scalp from an enemy's head, 
thus suffering him to die a» lingering death in great pain. 
The Indian in question had been secretly instructed to destroy 
Jonas Olson in this manner, for Jonas Olson had been the 
chief agent in assisting Root's wife to escape. Nils Hellbom, 
who is a fearless boatswain, large and strong, weight two 
hundred and twenty-five pounds, hearing of this, dressed 
himself in a Swedish sheepskin greatcoat, having the woolly 
side out, so that only his rolling eyeballs were visible. Then 
going out to where the Indian was, edged up to him and said 
in Swedish, 'What do you want? Do you want my scalp, 
too?'" The Indian's ignorance of the Swedish language 
alone prevented the shedding of blood. 

While the mob was raging at Bishop Hill, Eric Janson 
had succeeded in making good his escape to St. Louis, being 
accompanied by his wife, Mrs. John Root and others. In 
St. Louis he remained until all danger was past, when he 
returned to Bishop Hill. His trial was to come off at the 
May term of the Henry County Circuit Court in Cambridge. 
He seems to have had a presentiment that he should never 



42 The Bishop Hill Colony. [42 

return from that trial. In the last sermon that he preached 
in Bishop Hill he told his followers that he should die a 
martyr to religion. It was the most powerful sermon that 
he had ever preached. Strong men wept and the community 
was full of evil foreboding. The last public act of his life 
was to distribute the Lord's Supper, and in so doing he re- 
peated these words of the Holy Writ, "I will not drink hence- 
forth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it 
new in my father's kingdom." On Monday morning, Mr. 
Maskel, an employe of the community, called at Janson's 
dwelling-place with a horse and buggy to take him to Cam- 
bridge. On coming down the steps Janson said, " Well, 
Mr. Maskel, will you stop the bullet for me to-day ?" — which 
the latter cheerfully agreed to do. It was the 13th day of 
May, 1850. The court had adjourned for the noon recess. 
Janson was standing by a window in the court-room, while 
his counsel was sitting at a table engaged in writing. 
Suddenly John Root appeared in the doorway, calling Eric 
Janson by name. As Janson turned round, his eye met the 
gleam of a pistol-barrel, and a bullet struck him full in the 
heart ; as he fell, a second bullet grazed his shoulder. It is 
impossible now to ascertain the further particulars of the 
murder. Root's friends maintain that he and Janson had 
been conversing through the open window, and that Janson 
had uttered some insulting remark which exasperated Root; 
"while Janson's friends claim that the two men had not spoken 
to each other that day, but that Root came directly from a 
target practice in which he had been engaged the greater part 
of the forenoon. 

When Eric Janson was brought home a corpse who can 
describe the consternation? The representative of Christ, 
sent to rebuild the city of God, dead! His work was but just 
begun ! It was beyond human comprehension. But the 
ways of God are wonderful. Might he not recall his servant 
to life ? Men and women wept, and waited for the resur- 
rection which did not come. All work, except of a merely 



43] The Adventurer John Root. 43 

perfunctory nature, ceased. The industrial array was de- 
moralized, the leader was gone. Then it was that a woman 
stepped forward and called new life into the community. 

Eric Janson's second wife was a remarkable woman. Left 
an orphan at an early age, she was adopted by a well-to-do 
family in Goteborg, who brought her with them to New 
York at the age of fifteen. Her first husband was a sailor, 
who went out to sea and never returned. Her second husband 
gave her an education, and she, in return, assisted him as 
teacher in a private school, of which he was the principal. 
As Mrs. Pollock, she became acquainted Avith Olaf Olson in 
1845, through her pastor, the Kev. Mr. Hedstrom. When 
the main body of the Jansonists arrived in 1848 she met for 
the first time Eric Janson, who had come to receive them. 
She became converted, and followed the Jansonists to Bishop 
Hill, for Janson preached that there was no salvation outside 
the New Jerusalem. Her husband, who loved her as he did 
his life, went with her and tried to persuade her to return. 
But for the sake of her soul she dared not, and her husband 
died of a broken heart in Victoria. Mrs. Pollock lost her 
reason over her husband's death, but shortly recovered. Marry- 
ino; asain, she became Mrs. Gabrielson. Gabrielson died of 
.the cholera, leaving one son, who grew to be a young man. 
During a large part of her stay in the community she had taught 
in the community's school, and her knowledge of English had 
frequently been of service to the Jansonists. She was still 
an exceedingly handsome woman, composed and dignified in 
speech and deportment. Having in the meantime become a 
widower, Eric Janson took her to wife. As Mrs. Janson she 
superintended the work of the women, and, moreover, acted 
as her husband's secretary. She had been married but a few 
months at the time of Janson's death, but nevertheless she 
knew more about the affairs of the community than any 
other person in it. So, the rightful heir to Janson's authority, 
namely, his son by his first wife, being but a mere boy, Mrs. 
Janson took the reins of government into her own hands. 



44 The Bishop Hill Colony. [44 

But among the Jansonists women were not allowed to speak 
in public. Andreas Berglund was therefore appointed to be 
the nominal guardian of Eric Janson's son. In spiritual 
matters his authority was absolute, but in matters pertain- 
ing to business no important step was taken without the 
knowledge and consent of Mrs. Janson. 

For three days Janson's body lay in state. On the day of 
the funeral the Old Colony Church was crowded to suffoca- 
tion. Janson had gained many friends outside the commu- 
nity among those with whom he had had business relations. 
Strangers, toOj there were who came to satisfy a wanton curi- 
osity. The services were opened Avith song and prayer. 
Then Mrs. Janson stepped forward, and, in the presence of 
the congregation, placed her hand upon Berglund's bowed 
head, creating him guardian of the heir to the leadership of 
God's chosen people until such time when the boy should 
have reached the age of majority. After the funeral sermon, 
Avhich was preached by Aiidreas Berglund, an oration in the 
English language, together with several other addresses, the 
body was escorted to the community's burying-ground. 
There was no muffled music, no display of shining uniforms, 
no ])omp of funeral trappings. The body was laid to rest in 
a plain wooden coffin, and a plain wooden slab marked the 
grave of Eric Janson, the prophet, the representative of Christ. 

The death of Eric Janson may be said to have occurred at 
an opportune moment. He was at the height of his power. 
In obedience to his word, eleven hundred people had 
abandoned their homes in a prosperous country, to found new 
ones in an American wilderness. They had given up their 
property, had braved unknown dangers and suffered untold 
hardships. His power over them was extraordinary. In the 
terrible days of the cholera, Avlien any of their number were 
stricken with the dread disease, they sought his blessing, 
"Go, die in peace," and, contented, dragged themselves away 
to their fate. But his work was accomplished. It was his 
to call the community into existence in spite of seemingly in- 



45] Incorporation oi the Bishop Hill Colony. 45 

surmountable difficulties ; but he did not possess the adminis- 
trative ability to lead it along the quiet paths of industry to 
economic success. As it was, he died under heroic circum- 
stances and while the memory of his achievements was still 
fresh in the minds of friends and foes alike. 

In person Eric Janson was tall and angular, while his face 
was disfigured by a deep scar across the forehead and by the 
abnormal prominence of his upper incisor teeth. But these 
defects were lost sight of in the charm of his private conver- 
sation and in the eloquence of his public address. He was 
a man of large social aifections and, where religion did not 
interfere with the dictates of nature, of quick and ready 
sympathies. He was a man of splendid parts, and had his 
mind been less untrained he might possibly have become the 
pride and admiration of his native country, instead of ending 
his life before an assassin's bullet as an exile in a strange land. 

V. — Jonas Olson and the Incorporation of the 
Bishop Hill Colony. 

When the murder of Eric Janson took place in the court- 
room in Cambridge, Jonas Olson was on his way to Califor- 
nia. Being an indifferent man of business, Eric Janson had, 
by injudicious management, involved the community in 
serious financial difficulties. It was at the time when the 
California gold discoveries were filling the world with wonder. 
Their fame penetrated even to the quiet little village of 
Bishop Hill, and Eric Janson was carried away by the pros- 
pect of wealth easily acquired. For the immediate purpose 
of obtaining relief from the financial pressure resting upon 
the community, he dispatched, March 18, 1850, Jonas Olson 
with a party of eight men to California in quest of gold. 

Jonas Olson was then a man past the meridian of life. He 
possessed no faith in the mission upon which he was sent; 
but although he had pleaded hard with Eric Janson to be 
allowed to remain at home, he was, nevertheless, obliged to 



46 The Bishop Hill Colony. [46 

go, for he was considered the man best fitted for the under- 
taking, and, moreover, his life was threatened at home by John 
Root, for his connection with the affair between the latter and 
his wife. After passing through innumerable hardships, as a 
result of which one of their number died soon after reaching 
California, the gold-seekers arrived in Hanktown on the 
eleventh day of August, 1850. Here the news reached them 
of Eric Janson's death. Jonas Olson did not hesitate what 
course of action to adopt. Next to Eric Janson he had been 
the principal member of the community. Among the Devo- 
tionalists in Helsingland, from whose ranks the great majority 
of the Jausonist converts were gained, he had been the 
recognized leader previous to the coming of Eric Janson. 
During the troublous times of religious persecution his ex- 
tensive knowledge of men and affairs had more than once 
rescued the sinking cause of Jansonism. After the flight of 
their leader he had been the chief agent in effecting the 
emigration of the Jansonists. Now his gifts and attainments, 
which latter were not inconsiderable in a peasant, would 
once more be of service. In this conviction he immediately 
set out upon his return to Bishop Hill, taking with him a 
couple of his companions, leaving the rest to follow at their 
leisure. He arrived in Bishop Hill on the 8th of February, 
1851. 

Jonas Olson found the community under the control of 
Mrs. Janson and Andreas Berglund, who acted as the guard- 
ians of Eric Janson's son. During Eric Janson's lifetime no 
one had ventured to dispute the hereditary character of his 
office as spiritual and temporal leader of the community. 
The office was so described in the accepted doctrinal books, 
namely, in the hymn-book and catechism, both of which were 
composed by Eric Janson. During the storm and stress 
period of the Jansonist movement, when a strong and master- 
ful hand was needed to bring matters to a successful issue, it 
is altogether probable that the question of who was to succeed 
Eric Janson iu office had not occupied the serious attention of 



47] Incorporation of the Bishop Hill Colony. 47 

his followers. Every one had, as a matter of fact, submitted 
to the absolute authority which he assumed. On the one 
hand, his personality was such as to admit of no mediocre 
opposition. On the other, his adherents' attitude of mind 
predisposed them to accept any claims which he might make 
either for himself or for his family. He was regarded as the 
representative of Christ. His decisions were considered 
infallible, for the divine will was thought to be disclosed to 
him by special revelation. Upon his death, however, circum- 
stances were greatly altered. There was very little of the 
dignity of divinely sanctioned authority attaching to the 
childish prattle before the congregation of the future official 
mouthpiece of God. The evil results of Janson's infallible 
business policy were beginning fully to manifest themselves. 
The guardians of Janson's son could not claim infallibility 
of judgment, and many of the community were dissatisfied to 
be governed by a woman. A respectable minority of the 
community, while admitting Eric Janson's other claims, were 
not disposed to recognize those in behalf of his heir. It was 
this growing sentiment of dissatisfaction which Jonas Olson 
voiced, when, shortly after his arrival, he denounced Andreas 
Berglund as a usurper and demanded his abdication. He 
held that Eric Janson's had been a special commission, and 
hence the extraordinary powers and authority incident thereto 
could not be inheritable. The community should not, he 
said, recognize any formal leader whatever, but each indi- 
vidual member should serve the whole according to the 
measure of his ability and in that capacity for which he M'as 
best fitted by nature and training. Jonas Olson's standing 
in the community added weight to his words, and erelong 
the democratic element which he represented prevailed. The 
movement also gained strength from the operation of another 
circumstance. The affairs of the community were in such a 
condition that a strong and able man was needed to conduct 
it through the impending crisis. Jonas Olson was such a 
man, and the community instinctively looked to him for 



48 The Bishop Hill Colony. [48 

guidance. Thus it happened that, although no formal election 
or transfer of power took place, the leadership quickly passed 
from the guardians of Eric Janson's son into the hands of 
Jonas Olson. AVith his advent into power the claims of the 
family of Janson retreat into the background, until upon the 
adoption of the charter in 1853 they practically disappear. 

At the time of Janson's death the debt of the community 
was eight thousand dollars, which had been contracted prin- 
cipally in the purchase of unnecessary lands. In the summer 
of 1850, horses, cattle, wagons, even the crops were levied 
upon to satisfy the demands of the creditors. In the autumn 
of the year, however, the society received from various sources 
an accession of about eight or ten thousand dollars. A part 
of this m<mey was expended in completing the brick steam 
flour mill, which had been begun in 1849 under the direc- 
tion of Eric Janson. Soon, also, the community was able to 
make other improvements. An addition of one hundred 
feet was made to the large four-story brick tenement house. 
A commodious brick brewery, with a capacity of ten barrels 
a day, was erected for the preparation of small beer, the com- 
munity's favorite beverage. Orchards were planted, and an 
attem})t was made to raise broom-corn, which attempt suc- 
ceeded so well that a contract was made to furnish a Peoria 
dealer with a large quantity at the remunerative price of 
fifty dollars a ton. The manufacture of brooms was also 
begun, which henceforth became a staple industry. 

Under Jonas Olson's skilful management the circumstances 
of the community underwent a rapid and permanent improve- 
ment. But as the real and other property of the society 
increased, the disadvantages of not having a legal organiza- 
\um became apparent. It was necessary to hold property in 
the names of individual members, but in case of bad faith on 
the part of the natural heirs, com])lications concerning the 
succession might, upon the death of such members, arise 
in the ]>rol)ate courts. Hence, for the better conservation of 
its proprietary interests, the society decided to apply to the 



49] Incorporation of the Bishop Hill Colony. 49 

State Legislature for a charter. Accordingly, on January 
17, 1853, by an act of Legislature, a corporation was created, 
to be known as the Bishop Hill Colony. 

The charter provided for a board of seven trustees, who 
were to hold office for life or during good behavior, but who 
were liable to be removed for good reasons by a majority of 
the male members of the colony. Vacancies in the office of 
trustee were to be filled in such manner as should be pro- 
vided for in the by-laws. The powers of the trustees were 
of a most comprehensive character, enabling them generally 
to promote and carry out the objects and interests of the cor- 
poration, and to transact any business consistent with the 
benefit, support and profit of the members of the same. The 
business of the corporation should be manufacturing, milling, 
all kinds of mechanical business, agriculture, and merchan- 
dising. Furthermore, the colony might pass such by-laws 
concerning the government and management of its property 
and business, the admission, withdrawal, and expulsion of 
members, and the regulation of its internal policy, as it might 
deem proper, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws 
of the State. 

The by-laws were adopted May 6, 1854. According to 
these, any person sustaining a good moral character might 
become a member by transferring the absolute ownership of 
his property to the board of trustees and subscribing to the 
by-laws. The trustees were empowered to decide upon the 
moral fitness of candidates. They might, however, in their dis- 
cretion, refer the question to a vote of the adult male members. 
On withdrawal of membership, or expulsion from the society, 
a person was entitled to no compensation whatever, either for 
the loss of property or for time spent in the service of the 
community. The trustees might, ho^Yever, in special cases 
make such recompense as they should deem proper. Any 
person guilty of disturbing the peace and harmony of the 
community, or of preaching and disseminating religious doc- 
trines contrary to those of the Bible, might be expelled. It 



60 The Bishop Hill Colony. [50 

was to be the duty of the trustees to direct the various indus- 
trial pursuits, and generally to superintend the affairs of the 
community, either in person or through such agents and foremen 
as they might see fit to appoint. Annually, on the second 
Monday of January, a meeting of the adult male members was 
to take place for the general transaction of business. At this 
meeting the trustees were required to make a full and complete 
report of the financial condition and affairs of the society for 
the year ending on the Saturday next previous. Special 
meetings might be called by the trustees whenever the in- 
terests of the society required it. Special meetings could 
also be called by a majority of the adult male members, pro- 
vided they signified their request to the trustees in writing 
five days in advance. Vacancies in the board of trustees 
were to be filled at an election held specially for the purpose, 
the person receiving the highest number of votes being elected. 
These by-laws might be revised, altered or amended at any 
regular or called meeting, by a majority of the votes cast.^ 

The adoption of the charter was a complete abandonment 
of the principle of hereditary leadership. It took the temporal 
as well as the spiritual authority out of the hands of a single 
individual and vested it in a board of seven trustees. In so 
far, the democratic movement inaugurated by Jonas Olson 
had found a logical conclusion. However, the popularization 
of the form of government was more apparent than real. 
According to the provisions of the by-laws, the trustees were 
empowered not only to regulate and direct the business and 
various industrial pursuits of the community, but also to 
decide upon the fitness of applicants for membership, as well 
as upon the equity of compensating retiring members. The 
trustees were not obliged to await the instructions of the 
community — only one general business meeting annually was 
provided for — but had the right of initiative in matters of 
the gravest as well as of the most trivial importance. Finally, 
the community had practically no check upon the trustees, 

' For text of charter and by-laws see Appendix. 



51] Incorporation of the Bishop Hill Colony. 51 

for they held office for life or during "good behavior," and 
could not be ousted before, either through criminality or 
gross incompetence, some serious injury had already been 
done. 

The circumstances under which the instruments of incor- 
poration were adojited are suggestive. The demand for the 
charter did not spring from the people. The majority of the 
community did not know what the charter meant, except that 
in some way it would protect their interests in court. They 
were told that the community would continue to be governed, 
not by human laws, but by the Word of God. They had no 
voice in the election of the trustees. The board of trustees 
was already made up when the petition to the Legislature 
asking for a charter was presented to the members of the 
community for their signatures. Indeed, the members were 
originally requested to affix tlieir signatures, not to the peti- 
tion itself, but to a blank sheet of paper, and it was only 
when a certain wrong-headed individual demanded to see the 
petition that it was given to the people for inspection at all. 

On the other hand, there is no reason to suppose that the 
self-appointed trustees were conscious of arrogating to them- 
selves undue powers. The Jansonists were unaccustomed 
to self-government. Their leaders hardly looked upon them- 
selves as servants of the people, but rather as authoritative 
interpreters of the will of God. The seven trustees in ques- 
tion were all persons who had been appointed to positions of 
trust under Eric Janson, and who therefore considered that 
they had a perfect right to any formal recognition of the 
powers which they already virtually enjoyed. In reality 
the distribution of authority remained very much the same 
as it had been before. Jonas Olson continued to be the 
leading spirit also in the board of trustees, and his influence 
was sufficient to make or mar the success of any project. 



52 Tlie Bishop Hill Colony. [52 



VI. — Social, Ecoxomic, axd Religious Life under 
THE Charter. 

Under the improved business methods made possible by 
the charter, the material progress of the community was 
rapid and permanent. The indications of prosperity became 
visible on all sides, especially in the improved condition of 
the village, which had hitherto been built without regard to 
any definite plan either of convenience or of beauty. The 
site of the village was an elevation overlooking the sur- 
rounding country, but the beauty of the spot was marred by 
an unsightly ravine which intersected it from north to south. 
During a whole summer the trustees kept men and teams at 
work to remove this objectionable feature, and a park was 
planted where the ravine had been. The new brick houses, 
nearly all of which were several stories in height, were 
erected around this park and made looking into it. When 
the village was completed it contained twelve brick houses, 
the largest of which was two hundred by four hundred and 
forty-five feet, and four stories in height, besides six sub- 
stantial frame buildings. 

The buildings were almost entirely the product of home 
industry. AVhen a new building was contemplated, invita- 
tions were extended by the trustees to the members of the 
community to hand in plans and specifications. The bricks 
were burned in the society's own kilns. The lumber, a great 
deal of which Avas oak and black walnut, was sawed in the 
society's saw-mill, most of the iron Avork was forged in the 
society's smithy. The masonry was executed under the super- 
vision of AugustBandholtz,a German mason, who fell in love 
with a blue-eyed Jansonist and married into the community. 

There were no fences or outhouses to break up the sym- 
metry of the village. The streets were lined with shade 
trees and were kept scrupulously clean. The stables and 
enormous cattle-sheds were in an enclosure by themselves at 
some distance from the village. The village contained a 



63] Social, Economic and Religious Life. 53 

general store and post-office, a smithy, a brewery, a bakery, 
a weaving establishment, a dye-house, and a hotel, together 
M'ith wagon, furniture, harness, tailor and shoemaker shops. 
Besides, there were a hospital, a laundry, bath-houses, mills 
and manufactories. The store and ]>ost-office employed two 
clerks. The tailor shop employed six men and three 
women; the shoemaker shop, six men; the smithy, ten men; 
the wagon shop, six men. The smithy boasted seven forges, 
while the wagon shop was extensively known throughout the 
country for the excellent character of its work. The weaving 
establishment contained twelve reels and tweh^e hand-looms, 
besides which one hundred and forty spinning-wheels were 
distributed privately among the women of the community. 
The broom shop employed three men and nine women and 
turned out thirty dozen of brooms a day. 

But, nevertheless, agriculture was the principal pursuit 
of the community — so much so that, in the busy seasons, 
work in the shop and in the manufactory was allowed to 
come almost to a standstill. INIen, women, and children 
over fourteen years of age, worked side by side in the fields. 
Nobody who was able to work remained unemployed. The 
main farm was at Bishop Hill, but besides there were eight 
snb-farms, where gangs of workmen relieved each other at 
fixed intervals. A great deal of the unskilled labor was 
performed by women, for they constituted about two-thirds 
of the community, and the men were greatly needed in the 
trades. Unmarried women worked in the brick-kilns and 
assisted in the building operations, pitching the bricks, two 
at a time, from one story to another, instead of carrying 
them in hods. The milking was done wholly by women. 
Four women cared for the calves, four had charge of the 
hogs, and two worked in the dairy, where butter was made 
in an immense churn run by horse-power. Cheese was manu- 
factured on a similarly extensive scale. There were eight 
laundresses, two dyers, four bakers and two brewers. 

A visitor to the community in 1853 writes as follows: 



54 he Bishop Hill Colony. [54 

"We had occasion this year to visit the colony and were 
received with great kindness and hospitality. Everything, 
seemingly, was on the top of prosperity. The people lived 
in large, substantial brick houses. We had never before 
seen so large a farm, nor one so well cultivated. One of the 
trustees took us to an adjacent hill, from which we had a 
view of the Colony's cultivated fields, stretching away for 
miles. In one place we noticed fifty young men, with the 
same number of horses and plows, cultivating a cornfield 
where every furrow was two miles in length. ... In another 
place was a field of a thousand acres in broom-corn, the 
product of which, when baled, was to be delivered at 
Peoria for shipment to consignees in Boston, and was 
expected to yield an income of fifty thousand dollars. All 
the live stock was exceptionally fine and apparently given 
the best of care. There was a stable of more than one hun- 
dred horses, the equals to which it would be hard to find. 
One morning I was brought to an enclosure on the prairie 
where the cows were being milked. There must have been 
at least two hundred of them, and the milkmaids numbered 
forty or fifty. There was a large wagon, in which an immense 
tub was suspended, and in this tub each girl, ascending by 
means of a step-ladder, emptied her pail. The whole pro- 
cess was over in half an hour. On Sunday I attended 
service. There was singing and praying, and the sermon, 
by one of the leaders, contained nothing that a member of 
any Christian denomination might not hear in his own 
church. Altogether I retain the most agreeable remembrance 
of this visit." ^ 

The common dining-halls and kitchen were located in a 
large brick building at the northwest corner of the public 
square. The dining-halls were two in number, one for the 
men and women and one for the children. The women ate 
at two long tables, while one table was set aside for the men. 

John Swainson, in his article on the Colony of Bishop Hill in the 
January number of Scandinavia, 1885. 



55] Social, Economic arid Religioibs Life. 55 

The tables were covered with linen table-cloths, which were 
changed three times a week. The table service was neat, 
durable and substantial. Twelve waitresses served at the 
tables, while eighteen persons were employed in the kitchen 
as cooks or in other capacities. Soup was boiled in a 
monster kettle holding from forty to fifty gallons, and every- 
thing in the unitary cuisine was arranged on a similarly 
magnificent scale. The food was wholesome and substantial. 
No luxuries were indulged in ; pastry of every description 
was banished, except on the great church holidays and on the 
Fourth of July. The abundance which prevailed was quite 
a contrast from the poverty of early days, when the commu- 
nity had been frequently obliged to observe fast-days for want 
of food, and when only one meal had been forthcoming on 
Sundays. A beef and several hogs were butchered each week. 
Mush and pure milk were extensively used. The bread was 
made of pumpkin meal and wheat flour. The beverage con- 
sisted of coffee and small beer. Nothing was allowed to go 
to waste, and it was estimated that the cost of board per person 
was about three cents a day. 

Clothing was correspondingly cheap, for the society manu- 
factured its own linen, flannel, jean and dress goods. The 
women cut and sewed their own clothes, while the men's 
suits were made at the society's tailor shop. The society 
dressed its own leather and made its own shoes. Every 
person received each year two suits of clothes, together with 
one pair of boots and one of shoes. On work-days the women 
wore blue drilling, but on holidays they appeared in calico 
and gingham. The men dressed either in jeans or in woolen 
stuifs, and wore their hair long. The society adopted no 
fixed styles, but nevertheless a certain uniformity of dress 
prevailed. 

With regard to the institution of the family, its relations, 
at first, remained intact. Whole families occupied one-room 
tenements. Single persons dwelt together in separate quarters 
according to sex. With the exception of the modifications 



66 The Bishop mil Colony. [56 

imposed by the unitary cuisine, the home-life of the Janson- 
ists differed in nowise materially from that of their neighbors 
under the individualistic system. But a change also in this 
respect Mas impending. 

Of the twelve apostles appointed by Eric Janson to convert 
the world, Nils Heden alone had met with any degree of 
success. Besides making a number of converts, he visited 
several of the principal religious communistic settlements in 
the United States. From Hopedale, ^. Y., he persuaded 
twenty-five or thirty persons to join the Bishop Hill Colony. 
He also established friendly relations with the Oneida Per- 
fectionists of New York and the Rappists of Pennsylvania. 
In 1854 he made a journey to Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, which 
was destined to have important consequences. 

The Shakers taught the Jansonists the advantages of raising 
small fruit, and instructed them in improved methods of dye- 
ing wool. From Pleasant Hill also the Jansonists got im- 
proved breeds of cattle. A number of the Jansonists accepted 
Shakerism and went to live at Pleasant Hill, among them 
being the widow of Eric Janson. 

On his visit in 1854, Nils Heden allowed himself to be 
converted to the doctrine of celibacy. Returning to Bishop 
Hill he won the support of Jonas Olson, who straightway 
proceeded to ingraft the new doctrine upon the Jansonist 
creed. The practice of celibacy was somewhat difficult of 
enforcement. Some of the members of the community 
objected strenuously, but they were dealt with according to 
article 3 of the by-laws, which provided that any person 
guilty of preaching and disseminating religious doctrines con- 
trary to those of the Bible might be expelled. Thus, after a 
number of voluntary resignations and forcible expulsions, 
the opposition was broken and submission secured. 

After the introduction of celibacy the families continued 
to live together as heretofore, only that married persons were 
enjoined to practice restraint in the conjugal relations, and 
new marriages were, of course, prohibited. Under such 



57] Social, Economic and Religious Life. 57 

circumstances celibacy could not be strictly enforced, and 
remained a constant source of irritation, becoming eventually 
a potent factor in hastening the dissolution of the comnuinity. 

The Jansonists placed great value upon elementary educa- 
tion. Ever since the winter of 1847-8 the community had 
kept an English day-school, employing usually a native 
American as principal, and appointing one or more of its own 
members as assistant teachers. At one time, as stated above, 
the society was joined by a number of American communistic 
families from Hopedale, (N. Y., among whom were several 
persons competent to teacli. These families did not remain 
long, however, and the society was again compelled to resort 
to outside help. 

At first the school was conducted in mud-caves or any 
vacant room, but later a fine brick school-house, with 
accommodations for several hundred pupils, was erected. The 
average attendance was about one hundred, the school age 
being limited to fourteen years. The number of school 
months in the year was six. Swedish was not taught in the 
school, and the only knowledge m hich the children obtained 
of the language was through their parents. On the whole, 
the Jansonists evinced a commendable zeal in acquiring and 
adopting the language and customs of the country. Thus, 
for instance, the records of the Bishop Hill Colony were kept 
in the English as well as in the Swedish language. 

When the school days were over there were no means of 
continuing the studies. With the exception of the Bible, the 
Jansonists had destroyed all their books before leaving 
Sweden. Newspapers were not allowed. So there was no 
reading matter to be had except the Bible, the Jansonist 
hymn-book and catechism, and the well-worn school-books. 
Individuals sometimes happened upon other reading matter. 
Strangers stopping at the hotel occasionally left newspapers 
and books, which were surreptitiously circulated among the 
youthful members of the community. Among those who in 
this manner kept alive their appetite for knowledge were 
men since famous in letters and politics. 



58 The Bishop HiU Colony. [58 

The church organization was loose. There was no regularly 
ordained clergv. Any one with the gift of expression might 
preach. But the general management of ecclesiastical affairs 
was intrusted to Jonas Olson, assisted by Olof Stenberg, 
Andreas Berglund, Nils Heden and Olof Aasberg. Under 
Jonas Olson's leadership the religious tendency was, in some 
respects, one of conservative retrogression. He modified 
some of the excesses of the Jansonist theology in a Devotion- 
alistic direction, abolishing the Jansonist catechism altogether 
and thoroughly revising the hymn-book in 1857. 

Thus, it will be seen, community life at Bishop Hill had 
its lights and its shadows. "Which predominated it is impos- 
sible at this distance to say. In order to judge correctly, one 
must be able to comprehend the dominant motives of action. 
These were of a religious nature. They decided the com- 
plexion of the social and economic life. But they did not 
determine the intrinsic merits or demerits of the communistic 
system. All reasonable material wants, at any rate, were 
abundantly satisfied. No one was obliged to overtax his 
strength. Each one was put to the work for which he M'as 
best adapted. The aged and the infirm were cared for. The 
children were educated. Everybody was secure in the 
knowledge that, whatever befall, his subsistence was a 
certainty. On the whole, the members of the community 
enjoyed a greater amount of comfort and security against 
want than the struggling pioneer settlers by whom they were 
surrounded. 



VII. — Disastrous Financial Speculations, Internal 
Dissensions, and Dissolution of the Society. 

One of the grandest elements in the early development of 
the State of Illinois was the Illinois and Michigan Canal, 
connecting the Illinois and Mississippi rivers with the Great 
Lakes. The canal was recommended by Governor Bond in 
his first message to the State Legislature. In 1821 an 



59] Disastrous Financial Specutations. 59 

appropriation of ten thousand dollars was made for the pur- 
pose of surveying the route. The estimated cost of the canal 
was from $600,000 to $700,000. The actual cost was 
18,000,000. 

Pending the construction of the canal, speculation in 
land broke out in 1834 and 1835. From Chicago the 
disease spread over the State. In 1834 and 1837 it seized 
upon the State Legislature, which forthwith enacted a 
system of internal improvements without parallel in grandeur 
of conception. It ordered the construction of 1300 miles of 
railway, although the population of the State was not 
400,000. The railroad projects were surpassed by the 
schemes for the building of canals and the improvement of 
rivers. There were few counties that were not touched by 
railroad, river or canal, and those that were not were to be 
compensated by the free distribution among them of $200,000. 
The work was to commence simultaneously upon all river 
crossings, and at both ends of all railroads and rivers. The 
appropriations were $12,00 ,000, commissioners being ap- 
pointed to borrow money on the credit of the State. 

About this time the State Bank was loaning its funds 
freely to Godfrey, Gilman & Co., and other houses, for the 
purpose of diverting trade from St. Louis to Alton. These 
houses failed and took down the bank with them. In 1840 
the State was loaded with a debt of $14,000,000. There was 
not a dollar in the treasury, credit was gone, and the good 
money in circulation was not sufficient to pay the interest for 
a single year. 

But in 1848 the Illinois and Michigan Canal was finally 
completed, and began turning into the treasury an annual 
net sum of $111,000. The industries of the State revived, 
and the projects for the internal development of the country 
were again brought forward, with the difference, however, 
that they were now supported by private iustead of public 
enterprise. 

In 1854 the managers of the Chicago, Burlington and 



60 The Bishop Hill Colony. [60 

Quincy Railroad proposed to run their line into Bishop Hill. 
But the Jansonists, apprehensive of the probable effects of the 
intrusion, objected, and the railroad instead went through 
Galva, five miles distant. This did not prevent the Janson- 
ists from entering upon a $37,000 contract with the company 
to grade a portion of the roadbed. 

The manner in which Galva was founded is so illustrative 
of the origin of most Western towns and of the practices of 
railway corporations in general, that the following quotation 
from Ivett's History of Henry County is inserted in full : 
" The idea of building a town upon this site was first enter- 
tained in 1853. While Messrs. J. M. & Wm. L. Wiley were 
traveling from Peoria County to Rock Island in the spring 
of that year, they were attracted by the beauty of the sur- 
rounding country, and halted their team on the ground that 
now forms College Park, across which the old trail led. 
Standing in their buggy and looking out upon the scene, one 
of them remarked to the other, ' Let us buy the land and 
lay out a town ! ' At this time there were only two or three 
buildings to be seen from that point, and the country around\ 
was one vast sea of prairie, over which the deer were still 
roaming at will. The land was shortly purchased by them, 
and after negotiating with the C. B. & Q. Railroad Company 
a full year, they finally secured the location of a depot upon 
their ])urchase by donating the land now owned and occupied 
by the company in the center of the town. In the fall of the 
year succeeding its purchase (1854), and about the time that 
the arrangement with the railroad company was effected, the 
town was laid out in its present shape by the gentlemen men- 
tioned. The cars commenced running in December of the 
same year." ^ 

On account of its location on the railroad, Galva could not 
fail to become an object of interest to the Bishop Hill Colony. 
The community purchased fifty town lots, and lent its money 

'History of Henry County, published by H. J. Kett & Co., Chicago, 
pp. 168-9. 



61] Disastrous Financial Speculations. 61 

and influence towards building up the place. The station 
was named after the populous seaboard town of Gefle in the 
province of Helsingland, Sweden, although the name was 
soon corrupted to Galva. The Jansonists built the first house 
and dug the first well. Before the close of 1855 the society 
had erected a hotel, a general store, and a large brick ware- 
house, the material for which was hauled from Bishop Hill. 

The Bishop Hill Colony was represented in these business 
enterprises by Olof Johnson, a member of the Board of 
Trustees. Olof Johnson was originally a peasant from 
Soderala Parish, So. Helsingland. He was one of the 
leaders appointed by Eric Janson to conduct the Jansonist 
emigration. Later he had been sent by Eric Janson on a 
business trip to Sweden. Upon the adoption of the charter 
he was as a matter of course given a position as trustee. 
When Galva became the business headquarters of Bishop 
Hill he was appointed by the trustees to represent them in 
that place. As the business in Galva increased in volume 
and importance it was natural that the business in Bishop 
Hill should also fall under his control. In so far as his plans 
met with Jonas Olson's approval he dictated the business 
policy of the community. The two supplemented each other, 
Jonas Olson managing the internal affairs of the community, 
while Olof Johnson managed its external affairs. Olof John- 
son made Galva his headquarters, but otherwise spent much 
of his time in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, St. 
Louis, New Orleans, Mobile, and other points where the 
community transacted business. He was of a hearty, social 
disposition, and was a universal favorite wherever he went. 
He was not educated, being unable even to keep his own 
accounts, but possessed, it was thought, great natural talent 
for business. 

The society was now excellently organized for the purposes 
of economic production. The several departments of industry 
were under the charge of superintendents who were responsi- 
ble to the Board of Trustees. Under the superintendents 



62 The Bishop Hill Colony. [62 

were the foremen of gangs of workmen. According to a 
later arrangement the trustees were expected to meet every 
Monday evening for the consideration of the affairs of the 
community, and on the first Monday of every mouth any 
member might consult with the trustees on matters of general 
importance. 

The first report of the trustees was made on January 21, 
1855. According to this report the society owned 8028 
acres of land, improved and unimproved, fifty town lots in 
Galva, improved and unimproved, valued at ten thousand 
dollars, also ten shares in the Central Military Track Rail- 
road valued at one thousand dollars, together Avith five 
hundred and eighty -six head of cattle, one hundred and nine 
horses and mules, one thousand hogs, and divers poultry, 
unthreshed wheat, flax, broom-corn, etc. Furthermore, the 
community possessed other property to the value of $37,471.02. 
The entire debt amounted to only 1 18,000. Some idea of the 
effectiveness of the industrial organization may be obtained 
from the fact that the subsequent reports show an average 
annual increase in personal property alone of $44,042.96. 

Meanwhile Olof Johnson was developing a brilliant, if 
not altogether sound business policy. He managed to make 
his influence paramount in the Board of Trustees, obtaining 
control over four of the seven votes. This made him to 
a certain extent independent of Jonas Olson's dictation, 
although the latter could by his influence with the people 
have prevented any scheme distasteful to him from being 
realized. The very fact that Jonas Olson did not choose to 
exercise this influence, even when he disagreed most with 
Olof Johnson, makes him morally responsible for the latter's 
disastrous financial mistakes. 

Olof Johnson's idea was to make the community rich by 
employing its resources to build up manufactories and estab- 
lish a large general business. Jonas Olson's policy, on the 
other hand, was distinctively an agricultural policy. At 
first Olof Johnson was eminently successful. Prices went 



63] Disastrous Financial Speculations. 63 

up during the Crimean war. Wheat went up from thirty- 
five cents to one dollar and fifty cents a bushel. Broom-corn 
rose from fifty dollars to a hundred and fifty dollars a ton. 
Oats and Indian corn advanced correspondingly. The steam 
flour mill at Bishop Hill was kept running night and day, 
turning out a hundred barrels of flour every twenty-four 
hours. Olof Johnson erected atGalva a pork-packing estab- 
lishment and an elevator for the storage of grain. He 
operated a coal mine, dealt in stocks and bonds, and purchased 
real estate, holding at one time one hundred and sixty acres 
of land within the present limits of Chicago. In 1856, 
together with Robert C. Schenk, sometime U. S. Minister to 
England, and other prominent men, he planned the construc- 
tion of the Western Air Line Railroad, which was to run 
from Fort Wayne, Indiana, through to Iowa. He made a 
five million dollar contract with the company to grade the 
roadbed from Indiana to the Mississippi, accepting one 
million dollars in bonds as part payment. In the same year 
he entered into the banking business, becoming secretary of 
the Nebraska Western Exchange Bank in Galva. 

But after the Crimean war came the financial crisis of 1857. 
Illinois lost two hundred and fifty banks at one fell swoop. 
One of the first to go was the classic Bank of Oxford, located 
in the hazel-brush near Bishop Hill, and the Nebraska 
Western Exchange Bank soon followed. The Western Air 
Line Railroad shared the fate of the banks, and left the 
Jansonists a worthless debt of thirty-four thousand dollars for 
actual work performed. 

The inevitable reaction against the management of the 
trustees set in. The people began to accuse them, and 
especially Olof Johnson, of transcending their powers and 
squandering the property of the community. The most 
wonderful stories were circulated concerning the extravagance 
of Olof Johnson. He was reported to have gambled away, 
in New York, a fortune in a single night. In Chicago he 
was said to have bribed the police with fabulous sums when 



64 The Bishop Hill Colony. [64 

they broke in upon his midnight orgies. In St. Louis, so it 
was rumored, he bought a steamboat to amuse his friends for a 
single night, and in New Orleans, in company of Southern 
slave-owners, he was claimed to have lit his imported cigars 
with bank-notes, boasting of his white slaves in Bishop Hill 
who needed no bloodhounds or whipping-posts to keep them 
to their task. 

Following the flush times preceding 1857 came a complete 
or partial standstill in nearly all lines of industry. The 
members of the community Mere no longer deceived and 
quieted by a great show of business. The disaffection 
which was brewing took form in 1857 in an attempt to 
secure the repeal of the charter. The attempt was frustrated 
by the judicious expenditure on the part of Olof Johnson of 
six thousand dollars in Springfield. But in 1858 and 1859 
resolutions were passed at the annual meeting looking to the 
control of the actions of the Board of Trustees by the society. 

On January 9, 1860, the treasurer of the community read 
the following annual statement of the Board of Trustees : 

ASSETS. 

Farm lands $414,824 00 

Galva real estate 33,228 47 

Buildings and improvements 129,508 61 

Horses and mules 21,520 00 

Cattle account 17,088 00 

Hog account 1,700 00 

Sheep account 1,400 00 

Poultry 50 00 

Implements, farming 5,965 00 

Furniture and movables 11,610 14 

Steam mills 1,454 70 

Boarding-house utensils 3,096 40 

Mechanical department 9,092 88 

Produce 4,616 00 

Merchandise 4,775 60 



65] Disastrous Financial Speculations. 65 

County bonds $56,000 00 

Railroad stock 21,765 78 

Western Exchange Bank stock 9,500 00 

Bills receivable 46,144 45 

Due from N. A. L. R. R. Co 33,826 91 

Due from the estate of RadclifFe 3,907 48 

Due from Stark County 6,000 00 

Personal account 8,521 91 

Cash 581 25 

$846,277 58 

LIABILITIES. 

Bills payable 74,014 56 

Personal account 1,630 78 

Balance 770,631 94 

$846,277 58 
Balance stock on hand $770,630 94 

The accuracy of this statement was questioned and a com- 
mittee was appointed to make a thorough examination of the 
community's books, the trustees asking for a delay of three 
weeks, which was granted. 

Pending the examination of the books, special meetings 
were held by the members of the community, at which anew 
set of by-laws, calculated to restrict the powers of the trus- 
tees, was adopted. The preamble explains sufficiently the 
temper of the by-laws : " Whereas, the members of the Bishop 
Hill Colony have each one carefully considered and reflected 
upon the situation and condition of the general affairs of the 
Colony and the intention of its organization ; and, AVliereas, 
the general conviction has been acknowledged and expressed 
that the design and end for which this Colony was established 
never can be obtained under the present system of manage- 
ment; and. Whereas, the necessity requires and demands a 
change and reform in conducting and managing the affairs and 



66 The Bishop Hill Colony. [66 

property of the Colony: Therefore, to effect this just and 
needful change, the Bishop Hill Colony has this day adopted 
the following by-laws." 

The principal provisions of the new by-laws were as 
follows : The trustees might not buy or sell real estate, nor 
make contracts and debts binding upon the community, with- 
out the latter's express permission. The trustees were to be 
guided in other matters by the general instructions of the 
community. The general business meetings were to be held 
monthly instead of annually. The main office of the trus- 
tees should be in Bishop Hill and not in Galva. In case of 
withdrawal, members were to be entitled to fixed compensa- 
tion for the property and labor which they had contributed to 
the society.-^ The trustees, however, refused to acknowledge 
the legality of the meetings in which the by-laws had been 
adopted. As they persistently declined to appear in the 
monthly meetings, or to render any account whatever of their 
management, a resolution was passed, in which they were 
declared to have forfeited the confidence of the community 
and were requested to hand in their resignations. The resolu- 
tion failed of its object. 

In October, 1860, Olof Johnson, as the principal offender, 
was formally deposed from office. But he secured an in- 
junction against the Bishop Hill Colony, and had himself, 
together with certain of his friends, appointed receivers to 
wind up the affairs of the corporation. For on February 14, 
1860, a plan had been agreed upon looking to the dissolution 
of the society and the allotment in severalty of the communal 
property. This plan provided for a preliminary extra-legal 
division of property between the Olson and the Johnson 
parties, the former receiving two hundred and sixty-five 
shares out of a total of four hundred and fifteen. By being 
appointed a receiver for the Bishop Hill Colony, Olof John- 
son got control, not only of the shares belonging to his own, 
but also of those belonging to the opposite party. 

^ For complete text see Appendix. 



67] Disastrov^ Financial Speculations. 67 

On May 24, 1861, in order to prevent any inconveniences 
which might arise from the infringement of legal technicali- 
ties and to facilitate the final individualization of the 
property, Olof Johnson was not only reinstated as a trustee, 
but was also invested with powers of attorney to settle with 
the creditors of the community. Property more than suffi- 
cient to extinguish all claims against the society was set aside 
for that purpose, and the trustees were given five years in 
which to accomplish the work, an annual report of progress 
being required. 

In the spring of 1861 the Johnson party perfected the in- 
dividualization of its property, each member entering upon 
the complete possession of his share. The distribution was 
made on the following basis : To every person, male and 
female, that had attained the age of thirty-five years, a full 
share of all lands, timber, town lots, and personal property 
was given. A full share consisted of twenty-two acres of 
land, one timber lot — nearly two acres — one town lot, and an 
equal part of all barns, horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, or other 
domestic animals, and all farming implements and household 
utensils. All under this age received a share corresponding 
in amount and value to the age of the individual, no discrim- 
ination being shown to either sex. The smallest share was 
about eight acres of land, a correspondingly small town lot 
and timber lot, and part of the personal property. Thus a 
man over thirty-five years of age, having a wife of that age or 
over, would receive considerable property to manage. He 
held that of his Avife and children in trust, the deeds being 
made in the name of the head of the family. 

In the spring of the following year the Olson party followed 
suit, so that after March, 1862, the Bishop Hill Colony was 
practically extinct. It is a singular fact that this division, 
comprising, among other property, no less than about twelve 
hundred acres of land, has always been regarded as thoroughly 
just, and it is believed no complaint has ever been raised 
against it. 



68 The Bishop Hill Colony. [68 

The members of the community now considered that their 
financial troubles were at an end. But they were grievously 
mistaken. The trustees made no reports. On the contrary, 
in 1865, Olof Johnson assessed the individualized lands ten 
dollars an acre, which assessment, aside from the property 
already reserved by the trustees, was sufficiently large to pay 
the entire debt of the community. In 1868 an additional 
assessment of eleven dollars per acre was made. This was 
more than the members would stand, and on July 27, 1868, 
a committee was appointed to bring suit by bill in chancery 
against the trustees. In this suit, the special master in chan- 
cery, in referring to the trvistees' financial statement of Jan- 
uary 9, 1860, said: "Upon the making of said report . . . 
the Colony, at the same meeting where the said report was 
made, appointed a committee to examine and revise all the 
accounts of the Colony for the past year and make report. 
After the appointment of the committee and before they were 
given access to the Colony books for examination, new books 
were made up under the direction of some of the trustees, 
and these new books, instead of the original, were shown to 
the said committee for their examination. The difference 
between the new and original books is the said sum of 
$42,759.33. Upon my order to the said trustees to produce 
the Colony books, the said new books, and not the original, 
were produced." The special master found that, at the date 
of his report, Olof Johnson and the trustees were indebted to 
the Bishop Hill Colony in the sum of $109,619.29. 

It is not the intention to rehearse the details of this tedious 
and expensive lawsuit. Some of the principals are still living. 
The suit impoverished many, and destroyed much of the har- 
mony and good-will which still existed at the dissolution of 
the society. The " Colony Case " lasted twelve years, and 
was famous in its day among the legal fraternity in Illinois. 
After the death of Olof Johnson, in 1870, it languished until, 
in 1879, it was ended on the basis of a compromise. 



69] Conclusion. 69 

VIII. — Conclusion. 

In concluding this monograph upon the history of the 
Bishop Hill Colony, it will be profitable to inquire what were 
the principal advantages of the communistic system, and what 
were the principal causes of its failure. 

One immediate cause of failure was, of course, the disas- 
trous financial management for which the Board of Trustees, 
and especially Olof Johnson, were responsible. The defects 
of the charter and first set of by-laws, which hardly left the 
community a supervisory control in the management of its 
own affiiirs, have been reviewed. Under the circumstances 
it was not surprising that the trustees, well-intentioned as 
they undoubtedly were, should be tempted to exercise their 
powers to further arbitrary schemes of aggrandizement. This 
temptation was increased by the speculative temper of the 
general business world in the flush times preceding 1857. 

A second cause of failure was the religious tyranny exer- 
cised by the Board of Trustees, and especially by Jonas 
Olson. This tyranny culminated in the arbitrary introduc- 
tion of celibacy, in the accomplishment of which di'astic 
measures were freely resorted to. In 1859, religious dissen- 
sions ran so high that all community of worship was appar- 
ently destroyed. A strong reformatory party, led by Nils 
Heden, demanded and obtained important concessions from 
the Board of Trustees, which, however, led to no permanent 
conciliatory results. 

A third cause was the importation of ideas and habits of 
thought antagonistic to the communal life. This was due to 
the building of railroads, and to improved means of com- 
munication generally with the outside world. Even under 
ordinary circumstances the transferring of interests from one 
generation to another is a delicate and painful process. 
Under the peculiar circumstances which obtained in Bishop 
Hill, it was perhaps impossible of accomplishment. The 
communism of the Jansonists was founded upon a religious 



70 Tlie Bishop Hill Colony. [70 

basis. As soon as this basis should be withdrawn, the 
superstructure was destined to fall. And that is what hap- 
pened, for with the death of its founder, Jansonism rapidly 
went into decay. At the best there was little attraction in the 
religious life in Bishop Hill. 

The advantages of the system were such as were derived 
either from the application of the collectivist principle in the 
process of production, or from an equal distribution of econ- 
omic goods. Labor was saved, consumption of every descrip- 
tion was reduced, starvation was impossible. Yet, while the 
Jansonists fared well materially, and while it is true they lajd 
stress upon elementary education, the general intellectual life 
was exceedingly restricted. But perhaps it was not any more 
so than that of the back-woodsmen by whom they were sur- 
rounded. One thing is certain, the Jansonists displayed a 
wonderful amount of skill and ingenuity in all trades and 
mechanical arts. 

When the allotment in severalty took place, the majority of 
the Jansonists left Bishop Hill and moved out upon their 
farm lands. The division took place in a fortunate period. 
During the War of Secession, high prices were obtained 
for agricultural produce, and the more thrifty and fortunate 
were enabled to accumulate handsome competences. 

Of the persons who have figured in the foregoing pages the 
majority are now dead. John Root was sentenced to impris- 
onment for two years in the State penitentiary. He died 
Bome years after his ' release, friendless and penniless, in 
Chicago. Mrs. Eric Janson, once so handsome and gifted 
and powerful, ended her days in the County Poor House in 
1888, and lies buried in the community's burying-ground at 
Bishop Hill. Eric Janson, Jr., grew to manhood in Bishop 
Hill, and is now a successful newspaper editor in Holdrege, 
Nebraska. Jonas Olson still preaches occasionally in the 
Old Colony Church, and although his voice trembles and his 
frame shakes, the fire of the old-time eloquence is not wholly 
wanting. It is well that his eyes are growing dim, for the 



71] Conclusion. 71 

congregation which greets him is becoming piteoiisly small, and 
looks grotesquely out of place in such a pretentious house of 
worship. The majority of the Jansonists have joined the 
Methodist communion, and even Jonas Olson no longer 
adheres to the old faith, but is now an independent Second 
Day Adventist. 

The present town of Bishop Hill numbers only three hun- 
di-ed and thirty-three inhabitants. The shops and the mills 
and the manufactories are empty, and the very dwelling- 
houses are going to ruin. In the light of the past, it is truly 
a Deserted Village. But the spruce and the elm and the black 
walnut saplings that were planted in the days of the Colony 
have grown into magnificent shade trees, and speak of the 
glory of the past. 



APPENDIX. 



The Charter of the Bishop Hill Colony. 

An Act incorporating the Bishop Hill Colony at Bishop 
Hill, in Henry County. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of 
Illinois, represented in General Assembly, that Olof Johnson, 
John^ Olson, James Ericson, Jacob Jacobson, Jonas Kron- 
berg, Swan Swanson, Peter Johnson, and their associates and 
successors be, and they are hereby constituted and appointed, 
a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of " The 
Bishop Hill Colony," and by that name they and their suc- 
cessors shall and may have perpetual succession, shall be 
capable of suing and being sued, defending and being de- 
fended, pleading and being impleaded, answering and being 
answered, within all courts and places, whatsoever, and they 
may have a common seal, to alter or change the same at 
pleasure ; may purchase and hold or convey real and per- 
sonal property necessary to promote and fully carry out the 
objects of said corporation. 

The number of Trustees shall be seven, and the above- 
named persons are hereby appointed and constituted Trustees 
of said corporation. 

Section 2. The real and personal estate held and owned 
by said Trustees, in their corporate capacity, shall be held 
and used for the benefit, support, and profit of the members 
of the Colony. 

Section 3. The business of said corporation shall be 
manufacturing, milling, all kinds of mechanical business, 
agriculture and merchandising. 

'Anglicized for Jonas. 



74 The Bishop Hill Colony. [74 

Section 4. The said Trustees, above appointed, shall hold 
their office during good behavior, but are liable to be 
removed, for good reason, by a majority of the male mem- 
bers of said Colony. 

Section 5. All vacancies in the office of Trustees, either 
by removal, death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled 
in such manner as shall be provided by the by-laws of such 
corporation. 

Section 6. The said Trustees and their successors in 
office may make contracts, purchase real estate, and again 
convey the same, whenever they shall see proj^er so to do, for 
the benefit of the Colony. 

Section 7. All the real estate heretofore conveyed by any 
person or persons to the Trustees of the Bishop Hill Society, 
shall be, and the titles to said lands are hereby invested in 
the said Trustees above appointed, for the uses and purposes 
above specified. 

Section 8. The said Bishop Hill Colony may pass such 
by-laws concerning the government and management of the 
property and business of said Colony, and the admission, 
withdrawal and expulsion of its members, and regulating its 
internal policy and for other purposes, directly connected 
with the business and management of said Colony, as they 
may deem proper, not inconsistent with the Constitution and 
by-laws of the State. 

Section 9. This act shall be deemed and taken as a public 
act, and shall be construed liberally for the benefit of said 
Colony. 

The Old By-Laws of the Bishop Hill Colony. 

Article 1. Any person sustaining a good moral character 
may become a member of this Colony by transferring to the 
trustees thereof all his or her real and personal property, 
and subscribing to these by-laws. The Board of Trustees 
shall determine the question of moral character and admis- 



75] The Old By-Laws of the Bishop Hill Colony. 75 

sion, and a majority of said trustees shall constitute a quorum 
for that purpose. The trustees may, in their discretion, refer 
the question of admission to a vote of the adult male members 
of the Colony. 

Article 2. The property which any person on becoming a 
member of this Colony shall transfer to the trustees thereof, 
shall become forever thereafter the absolute property of the 
Colony ; and on withdrawal or discontinuance of member- 
ship by any person, he shall not be entitled to compensation 
or pay for any services or labor he may have performed during 
the time he may have been a member ; but it shall be at the 
option of the trustees to give to such person such things, 
whether money or property, as they, the trustees, shall deem 
right or proper. 

Article 3. Any member who shall be guilty of disturbing 
the peace and harmony of this society, by vicious or wicked 
conduct, or by preaching and disseminating doctrines of a 
religious belief contrary to the doctrines of the Bible which 
are generally received and believed by this Colony, may be 
expelled. 

Article 4. It shall be the duty of the trustees of said 
Colony to regulate and direct the various industrial pursuits 
and business of said Colony in person or by such agents or 
foremen as they may see fit to appoint from time to time, and 
to require such agents or foremen to account to them in such 
manner and at such time as they, the trustees, shall deem 
convenient and proper. 

Article 5. There shall be held annually, on the second 
Monday of January in each year, a meeting of the adult 
male members of said Colony for the general transaction of 
business, at which time the Board of Trustees shall make a 
full and complete report of the financial condition and affairs 
of the Colony for the year ending on the Saturday next 
previous to such meeting. But the Board of Trustees, or a 
majority of them, may call special meetings of the adult male 
members of the Colony for the consideration and transaction 



76 The Bishop Hill Colony. [76 

of business, whenever in their opinion the interests of the 
Colony require it. And a special meeting shall convene 
whenever a majority of the male adult members of the Colony 
shall require such meeting, by signifying their request to the 
trustees in writing five days previous to such meeting. 

Article 6. Our property and industry and the proceeds 
thereof shall constitute a common fund, from, by and with 
which it shall be the duty of the Board of Trustees to provide 
for the subsistence, comfort and reasonable wants of every 
member of the Colony, for the support of the aged and infirm, 
for the care and cure of the sick and the burial of the dead, 
and for the proper education of our children, and generally to 
do and transact any and all business necessary to the pros- 
perity, happiness and usefulness of the Colony, and consistent 
with the charter organizing the same. 

Article 7. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the Board 
of Trustees, the same shall be filled at an election held for that 
purpose by the adult male members of the Colony, and the 
person receiving the highest number of votes shall be trustee. 

Article 8. These by-laws may be revised, altered or 
amended at any regular or called meeting of the adult male 
members of the Colony, by a majority of those present and 
voting at such meeting. 

The Neav By-Laws of the Bishop Hill Colony. 

Article 1. All heretofore adopted by-laws, orders, decisions 
and commissions, either to the trustees, or issued by the trus- 
tees to any of them, or to other persons belonging or not 
belonging to the Colony, that have heretofore been in force, 
are hereby, to all power and value, repealed. 

Article 2. All persons who according to the former by- 
laws have become members of this Colony and are now 
residing within this Colony, shall be members under these 
by-laws, and be entitled to all the rights and benefits that 
these by-laws prescribe. 



77] The New By-Laws of the Bishop Hill Colony. 77 

Article 3. In accordance with the charter dated January 
17, A. D. 1853, organizmg this Colony, the trustees may buy 
and sell real and ])crsonal property and make contracts ; but 
in conformity with the 1st and 8th sections of said charter, 
the Colony does hereby decree that the trustees shall not buy 
or sell real estate or make contracts, or contract debts for 
which the Colony shall be holden, unless the Colony has in a 
general meeting been heard and has decided on all the stipu- 
lations in regard to such purchases, sale, conti*acts or indebted- 
ness, as the Colony may consider best to carry out the intention 
of its organization. 

Article 4. The trustees shall carefully regulate the affairs, 
works, and industrial pursuits of the Colony ; make purchases, 
sales, and conduct the finances in accordance with such ordi- 
nances and instructions as the Colony may, in general meeting, 
from time to time adopt and issue. 

Article 5. Foremen of shops, mechanical establishments, 
and agricultural departments shall be chosen by the Colony, 
and such foremen shall account to the trustees at such time 
and in such manner as the trustees may direct for the business 
that such foremen may execute. 

Article 6. The Colony may adopt such rules of order as 
necessity may require to promote morality, decency, justice 
and equity between the members. 

Article 7. On the second INIonday in each month, at 9 
o'clock A. M., there shall be a general meeting of the adult 
male members of the Colony, for the transaction of the general 
business of the Colony. All motions introduced at such 
meetings shall be put to vote, and the motion shall be decided 
according to the will of the majority, as expressed by the vote. 
These votings shall, if not otherwise decided, be made in such 
manner that the names of tlie members shall be called, where- 
upon each member shall respond to the call of his name with 
"aye" or "no," and shall thereby signify whether he is 
voting for or against the motion ; " aye " signifying appro- 
bation of the motion, and "no" signifying disapprobation of 



78 The Bishop Hill Colony. [78 

the same. At these meetings the trustees shall render and 
deliver a report and full account of the affairs of the Colony 
and the management of the same for the month ending next 
before such meeting, and also a summary account of the affairs 
of the Colony up to the time of that meeting at which such 
account is rendered. 

Article 8, The Colony may, Avhenever it shall so decide, 
elect five men, who shall constitute a committee for an exami- 
nation, investigation, and inspection of the reports, accounts 
and transactions of the trustees ; and it shall be the duty of 
the trustees to deliver to the said investigating committee 
such documents as said committee may call for for such 
examination, investigation and inspection; and the trustees 
shall also give such information and explanation as the said 
committee may see proper to demand. The investigation 
ordered at the general meeting of the 9th of January, A. D. 
1859, shall proceed according to the instructions, or in the 
manner that may be hereafter directed. 

Article 9. Should a vacancy occur in the Board of Trus- 
tees, either by death, resignation, removal or discharge, such 
vacancy shall be filled at a general meeting by a vote of the 
male members of the Colony, and the person who shall receive 
the highest number of votes shall be trustee. 

Article 10. The affairs and transactions of the Colony 
shall be done in the name of the Colony. The trustees and 
the other officers shall have a common office at Bishop Hill, 
but at no other place, where the affairs shall be transacted and 
recorded. 

Article 11. The income of the Colony shall be used for 
the support, clothing and subsistence of the members of the 
Colony and their families, for the education of their children, 
medical aid and care of the sick, and the funeral expenses of 
the dead; and all these expenses shall be paid from the 
common funds, and the surplus, after the debts of the Colony 
are liquidated, shall be used as the Colony may prescribe. 

Article 12. Should any of the members wish to leave, 



79] The New By-Laws of the Bishop Hill Colony. 79 

withdraw, and discontinue their membership in the Colony, 
they shall signify their intention at a general meeting, or 
before one of the trustees of the Colony ; and such with- 
drawing or discontinuing member shall be entitled to com- 
pensation for the work he or she may have performed for the 
Colony; which compensation shall be computed and paid in 
such a manner that each and every person now residing in 
the Colony who is a member thereof, or has resided in the 
Colony for the last five years with the intention and promise 
to become a member of the Colony, shall be entitled to an 
equal amount of money for every six months he or she 
resides at Bishop Hill or in the Colony, after the time he or 
she has attained the age of eighteen years ; which amount of 
money shall be fixed and calculated after the value of the 
real and personal estate belonging to the Colony, with deduc- 
tions of the liabilities, in such a manner that all the separate 
amounts put together shall make the net balance of the value 
of the real and personal property of the Colony, according to 
the valuation of the property. And any person who signi- 
fies his or her intention to leave or withdraw from the mem- 
bership shall receive the compensation for the work in the 
Colony according to such calculations, but such person's 
membership shall not cease before the said compensation has 
been respectively paid over to the proper person. 

To find out the right value of the real and personal prop- 
erty, that the amount of compensation can with certainty be 
calculated and computed, the Colony shall appoint two dis- 
interested and skillful persons, and these two persons shall 
select a third person who shall make a complete inventory 
and a true valuation of the real and personal property of the 
Colony, which inventory and valuation shall be completed 
before the first of June next : before this time, or the first of 
June next, the Trustees shall make a true statement of all 
the liabilities and claims of or on the Colony, and the net 
balance of the assets shall be the amount according to which 
the compensation, as has heretofore been stated, shall be 



80 The Bishop Hill Colony. [80 

computed and paid. The payment of said compensation for 
work to such persons as withdraw from the membership of 
the Colony shall be made in real and personal property, if 
mutual agreement can be made in regard to the situation of 
the real estate and the nature and quality of the personal 
property, and when such an agreement can be made, then 
shall the property be taken for the value that has been set 
on the same, as mentioned in this article, and the payment of 
such compensation shall be made within six months from the 
date when the person made the notification of his or her 
withdrawal. 

Article 13. These by-laws can be altered or amended at 
a general meeting of the adult male members of the colony, 
with the exception of the 12th article of these by-laws, which 
cannot be repealed or amended ; otherwise than that a yearly 
valuation of real and personal property can be made, if the 
Colony so decide. 



.'y^-^ 



I 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. v/ ' 



Eric-Jansismen i Helsingland. Anonymous. Gefle, 1845. 

Nagra Sangar samt Boner. Forfattade af Eric Jansson. Soder- 
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Forklaring ofwer den Heliga Skrift, eller Cateches. Af Eric Jans- 
son. Soderhamn, 1846. 

Bill of Complaint in the Bishop Hill Colony Case. 

Answer of the Defendants to the Bill of Complaint. 

The Communistic Societies of the United States. By Charles 
Nordhoff. New York, 1875. Pp. 143-9. 

History of Henry County. Published by H. F. Kett&Co.. Chicago, 
1877. Chapter on the Bishop Hill Colony. 

Svenskarne i Illinois. By Eric .Johnson and C. F. Peterson. 
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Handbok i Svenska Kyrkans Historia. C. A. Cornelius. Upsala. 
1875. Pp. 261-5. 

De Svenska Lutherska Forsamlingernas Historia i Amerika. By 
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The Intercourse between the U. S. and Japan. 

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State and Federal Government in Switzerland. 

By JOHN MARTIN VINCENT, Ph. D. 

Librarian and Instructor in the Department of History and Politics, Johns Hopkins University. 



This is published as Extra Volume IX of the Studies in History and 
Politics, and is the result of a long series of investigations in the history 
and institutions of Switzerland. In view of the fact that the six-hundredth 
anniversary of the foundation of Federal Government in that country is 
celebrated in 1891, this may be considered a timely book. The history 
and constitutional experiments of Switzerland have, however, a perennial 
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United States. The present work is essentially a study of modern insti- 
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CONTENTS. 

PART I.— FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 
Chapter I.— Origins of tlie Confederation: Swiss Institutions essentially Ger- 
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of the Period; The League of XIIL ; Ttie Helvetic Republic; The Act of Mediation; 
The Pact of 1815; CoustUutiou of 1818. 

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Government; Powers Deflued ; Federal luterventlou. 

Chapter III.— Federal Liegislation : The Natioualrath (House of Representatives); 
The Siauderatb (Senate); Fuuctious of the Combined Houses; Conduct of Business. 

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Chapter v.— The Federal Executive (Bundesrath) : Powers and Duties ; Depart- 
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Excellent Results. 

Chapter VI.— The Federal Judiciary (Bundesgericht) : Competence of this Tri- 
bunal; Comparison with the United Slates. 

Chapter VII.— The Federal Army: Martial Reputation of Mediaeval Switzerland; 
Principles of Modern Organization; No Standing Army; Divisions of Militia; Exemp- 
tions and Taxation. 

Chapter VIII.— International Relations: Switzerland once held the Balance of 
Power in Europe; Bad Results of Foreigu Military Service; Neutrality the Permanent 
Policy; Guaranty of the Powers; International Conferences and Unions. 

Chapter IX.— Federal Finance: Sources of Income; Federal Monopolies; The Al- 
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Chapter X.— The Confederation and Society: Functions of the General Govern- 
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Chapter XI.— The Confederation and the Individual: Personal Rights under 
Protection of Federal Government. 

PART II.— STATE GOVERNMENT. 
Chapter XII.— State Legislation: Different Forms of State Government ; Democra- 
cies; The Landesgemeiude; Representative Legislatures; One Republic. 

Chapter XIII.— Referendum and Initiative. 
Chapter XIV.— The Executive and Judiciary. 
Chapter XV.— Finance and Administration. 
Chapter XVI.— Cliurch and State. Education. 
Chapter XVII.— The Community and Citizenship. 

PART III.— CHARTERS AND CONSTITUTIONS, 1291-1891. 



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Spanish Institutions of the Southwest. 

By FRANK W. BLACKIVIAR, Ph. D., (J. H. U.) 

Professor of History and Sociology in the Kansas State UniverHty. 

380 pages, 8vo. Cloth. Price $2.00. 

With Thirty-one Historical Illustrations of old Spanish Missions, etc., and a map 
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